Tournament Web Site
Complete Match Notes (pdf)
Micro-Blogging The Blues
(Around 140-character or less tweets highlighting the season)
• The Lady Blues fell one spot to 4th in this week's national poll. This is their 114th straight ranking and 45th straight in the top 10 #NationalRecognition
• Sr. OH
Hillary Hughes is 7 kills from becoming the eighth member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club. She got her 1000th dig last Friday #EliteClub
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Chris Herron earned his 400th career win as a head coach Friday at FHSU. Last year he celebrated his 300th win at Washburn #CareerMilestone
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Jessica Fey is 29 kills and 13 blocks away from becoming the ninth member of the 1,000 kills/300 blocks club #EliteClub
• This will be the 7th straight year hosting the Lay Blues Fall Classic. WU is 24-0 all-time in the event #HomeCookin'
• Herron is in his 11th year with a 325-56 record. He's got nine NCAA appearances, 4 MIAA titles and 15 All-Americans #GreatDecade
Lady Blues Fall Classic Coming Up Next
Lady Blues look to defend Lee Arena winning streak as they host Fall Classic this weekend
No. 4 Washburn will take a break from MIAA play and host the Lady Blues Fall Classic presented by The Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel Friday and Saturday in Lee Arena. The event will feature five MIAA schools and five Great American Conference schools and take place on two courts.
A full tournament schedule with links to live stats is available at www.wusports.com/FallClassic and will have results and statistics as matches are completed. Tickets to the Fall Classic will be $10 for a full-tournament pass, good Friday and Saturday. A one-day pass will be $6 and will be good on either Friday or Saturday. Washburn students with a current ID will get in free.
The Lady Blues (14-1, 5-1 MIAA) will be trying to protect their 42-match home winning streak as they host Southwestern Oklahoma State Friday at 2 p.m. and then Southeastern Oklahoma State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday they play Harding at 11 a.m. and Southern Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. Washburn is hosting the event for the seventh straight year and went 24-0 in the first six years.
Washburn beat Northwest Missouri and Fort Hays State last week then fell 3-1 at No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday for the first loss of the season. Southwestern Oklahoma is 5-11 while Southeastern Oklahoma is 2-12 and will play Southern Nazarene Tuesday. Harding is 12-4 and plays Henderson State on Tuesday. SNU is 6-9.
1,000 Kill Watch
Hughes and Fey enter week looking for membership to exclusive clubs
A pair of Washburn seniors will be looking for their 1,000th kills and admission into exclusive clubs this weekend.
Hillary Hughes has 993 kills and she got her 1,000th dig last weekend. She is hoping to become the eighth player to get 1,000 kills and digs in her career.
Jessica Fey has 971 kills and 287 blocks as she looks to become the ninth player to get 1,000 kills and 300 blocks.
If Hughes and Fey get their 1,000th kills on the same day this weekend, it wouldn't be the first time a pair of Lady Blues reached that milestone on the same day during the Lady Blues Fall Classic. Mandi Cox and Monica Miesner both reached that plateau on October 6, 2007 in separate games.
Fifteen Lady Blues have reached 1,000 kills in their career, the last being
Breanna Lewis last season. The last Lady Blues to get 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs was Monica Miesner in 2007.
Mollie Lacy was the last to get 1,000 kills and 300 blocks, reaching that milestone last year.
400th Career Win
Head coach Chris Herron earns his 400th career win
Washburn's 3-0 win Friday at Fort Hays State gave head coach
Chris Herron his 400th career win in his 14 season as a head coach. He's now 400-85 (.825) overall and 325-56 (.853) in 11 seasons at Washburn.
Herron entered the year fourth in NCAA history with an .821 winning percentage among DII coaches with at least 10 years experience.
Washburn History In The Fall Classic
Lady Blues undefeated in six-year home tournament
This will be the seventh straight year Washburn has hosted the Lady Blues Fall Classic and they are 24-0 in the event, winning four matches in each of the six years. Truman and Emporia State have also played in all six events with Truman behind Washburn with 22 wins and Emporia State having 17.
Hillary Hughes enters the weekend second in Lady Blues Classic history with 20 assists in her 40 sets played. ESU's Ting Liu (2007-10) got 22 aces to hold the current record.
114 Straight In The Polls
Lady Blues drop a spot to fourth in AVCA poll
After dropping their first match of the year to No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney, the Lady Blues fell just one spot to No. 4 in the AVCA national poll released Monday afternoon.
The Lady Blues earned their 114th straight ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and their 45th straight in the top 10. They have been in every weekly poll since week one of the 2004 season and they have been in the top 10 going back to week one of 2009.
UNK remained No. 1 while MIAA opponent Central Missouri jumped from eighth into a tie for seventh. The top four teams in the poll are from the Central Region, as are six of the top seven.
School Record Winning Streak At 42 Home Matches
Lady Blues return home looking to push streak to 46
• The Lady Blues have a school record as they have won their last 42 matches in Lee Arena with perfect home records in each of the last three years, counting their 3-0 start this year.
• Their last loss in front of the home crowd was against Central Missouri on September 25, 2009. They went all of 2010 and 2011 without a loss.
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Chris Herron is 134-13 (.912) coaching in Lee Arena.
• Washburn has won 57 of its last 58 home matches and 73 of its last 75.
About Coach Chris Herron
Head coach Chris Herron building solid program in 11th season
• Head Coach
Chris Herron is 325-56 (.853) in his 11th season at Washburn and 400-85 (.825) in 14 years overall as a head coach.
• He's won more games (325) in the last 11 years than any other program that has been in the MIAA during that time. Truman is second with 314.
• He's turned Washburn volleyball completely around. The program went 169-265 (.389) in its first 12 years as an MIAA school from 1990-2001 and had never been to the NCAA tournament.
• Herron has earned Washburn its first 11 NCAA tournament appearances and four conference titles.
• In his first 11 years he's had at least one All-American each year but his first. He has seen his players earn 15 All-America awards include three first-teamers.
• Herron won a conference title in 2002, his first year with the Lady Blues and they hosted the NCAA region tournament in their first trip to the event.
• He was named MIAA coach of the year in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2011 and AVCA region coach of the year in 2007.
• His 2007 squad advanced out of the NCAA region tournament for the first time in school history and hosted the NCAA national tournament. Washburn made it to the semifinal and finished ranked third in the nation.
• The 1980 College of the Ozarks graduate went 75-29 in three years at Benedictine before coming to Washburn.
This Week's Opponents
Aside from series with Harding, Lady Blues have limited history with this week's opponents
The Lady Blues played Harding every year from 2001-07 and then again in 2010. They lost the first two matches but won the next six to hold a 6-2 lead in the all-time series. Washburn is 2-0 against Southwestern Oklahoma, 1-0 against Southeastern Oklahoma and 1-1 against Southern Nazarene. SEOSU is the only school of the four that Washburn has played in the Lady Blues Fall Classic, winning 3-1 in 2009.
Recapping Last Week
Lady Blues go 2-1 in three straight on the road
A busy week on the road ended with Washburn's first loss of the season Saturday at No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney. The Lady Blues, ranked third last week, beat Northwest Missouri 3-1 Tuesday and then topped Fort Hays State 3-0 Friday. Saturday they won the opening set but dropped three straight to fall 3-1 against the Lopers.
Friday against FHSU, the Lady Blues faced defeat in the third set, down 24-17. They then rolled out an unprecedented 8-0 run, fighting off set point six straight times, to go up 25-24. The streak ended with three straight blocks from
Jessica Fey and then two straight kills from Kopp. Fort Hays State then tied the match at 25-25 and then at 26-26. Fey then set down a kill to get Washburn to match point and then an FHSU attack error gave Washburn the win. Herron earned his 400th career win in the match.
Hughes got her 1000th career dig Saturday at UNK and finished with 10 kills and 10 digs for her 30th career double-double.
Net Notes
Final points...
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Jessica Kopp has reached double figures in kills in four straight matches and in five of the last six. She's averaging 3.57 kills in the last four matches. She tied her career high with 15 kills Saturday at UNK.
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Marissa Cox set a career high with 11 kills last Tuesday at Northwest Missouri and then tied it Saturday at UNK. She hit .526 against the Bearcats with five blocks. Those were her first two matches in double figure kills.
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Hillary Hughes moved into a tie for sixth with Tessa Jones with her 30th career double-double last week. She's eighth with 48 career double-figure kill matches and eighth with 45 career double-figure dig matches.
• Washburn put two players in the 1,000 kills club last year and
Chris Herron has seen seven of his players reach that milestone.
• Washburn is second in the MIAA hitting .240 and second allowing opponents to hit just .116 in matches. The Lady Blues are also second in kills and assists.
Jessica Fey is second individually with a .368 attack percentage and
Marissa Cox is fourth hitting .351.
Coming Up Next...
Three more MIAA matches up next for Washburn
The Lady Blues will stay home and host Missouri Southern October 9 at 7 p.m. and then play at Southwest Baptist October 12 at 7 p.m. and at Central Missouri October 13 at 7 p.m.
