Complete Game Notes (pdf)
Micro-Blogging The Blues
(Around 140-character or less tweets highlighting the season)
• Washburn stayed put at third in this week's AVCA poll and it's the Lady Blues 117th straight time in the ranking #NationalRecognition
• The Lady Blues are looking to extend their school record winning streak to 50 games with a win Tue. against FHSU #HomeCourtAdvantage
• The Lady Blues are one of three one-loss teams in the MIAA along with UNK and UCM. WU and UCM are the defending MIAA champs #WindingDown
• Washburn can clinch a home match in the first round of the MIAA postseason tournament with one win this week #KeepOnPlaying
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Chris Herron earned his 400th career win as a head coach Sept. 28 at FHSU. Last year he celebrated his 300th win at Washburn #CareerMilestone
• Herron is in his 11th year at WU with a 334-56 record. He's got nine NCAA appearances, 4 MIAA titles and 15 All-Americans #GreatDecade
Another Big Week Ahead
Busy week starts at home with FHSU Tuesday then two on the road this weekend
The third ranked Lady Blues will look to extend their 11-match winning streak when they play three MIAA contests this week. Tuesday they will host Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. as they look for their 50th straight win in Lee Arena. Friday they'll play at Pittsburg State at 7 p.m. and then Saturday they'll be at Central Oklahoma for a 7 p.m. match.
Washburn improved to 25-1 overall and 11-1 in the MIAA with two wins last week. Tuesday they won 3-1 at Emporia State and Saturday they swept Drury in a non-conference match. The Lady Blues are one of three one-loss teams in the MIAA as they look to defend their two straight MIAA titles with five conference games remaining on the schedule.
Fort Hays State ended its week with a 3-2 win on Saturday at Pittsburg State but lost twice earlier, 3-0 at Nebraska-Kearney and 3-2 against Central Oklahoma. The Tigers are 23-10 overall and 7-7 in the MIAA. Pittsburg State is 12-12 and 3-9 in the MIAA after losses to UNK and FHSU last week. The Bronchos are 12-13 and 7-7 in the league after a loss to UNK and the win over FHSU. UCO will host Southern Nazarene Tuesday and Emporia State Friday.
Nearing Tournament Time
Lady Blues will clinch home MIAA tourney match with win
The Lady Blues will clinch at least a top-four finish in the MIAA with one win this week and with it, a chance to host a first round match in the MIAA postseason tournament.
The MIAA will crown the regular season champion or co-champions with a trophy after the regular season and then the top eight teams will play in the MIAA postseason tournament. The top four teams will host the bottom four on November 13 and then the highest remaining seed will host the semifinals on November 16 and the final on November 17.
Washburn is currently tied for first in the loss column with Nebraska-Kearney and Central Missouri. UNK and UCM are both 12-1 while Washburn is 11-1. Truman is fourth at 11-2.
Fey Joins Elite Club
Fey becomes ninth Lady Blue with 1,000 kills and 300 blocks
Senior middle hitter
Jessica Fey is 15th in Washburn history with 1,103 kills and she also has 317 blocks, making her the ninth player in Washburn history to have over 1,000 kills and 300 blocks.
Fey became the 17th Lady Blue to reach 1,000 kills as she had 12 against Harding on October 6. She then got her 300th block October 13 at Central Missouri.
Mollie Lacy was the last to get 1,000 kills and 300 blocks, reaching that milestone last year.
Fey entered the season fourth in career hitting percentage with a .306 attack. She's hitting .403 this year and is currently averaging a .329 attack through her four years, good enough for second in school history. Her senior year attack percentage would be good enough for second in Washburn single-season history and it would make her just the second Lady Blue to hit over .400 in a season.
Hughes Also Joins Elite Club
Hillary Hughes becomes eighth member of 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club
Hillary Hughes cemented herself in Washburn volleyball history when she got her 1,000th kill October 5 against Southeastern Oklahoma State, making her the eighth Lady Blue to get 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. She got her 1,000th dig September 29 at Nebraska-Kearney.
Hughes now has 1,111 kills, putting her 17th in school history and she's 16th with 1,096 digs. The last player to get 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs was Monica Miesner while playing from 2004-08.
400th Career Win
Head coach Chris Herron earns his 400th career win
Washburn's 3-0 win September 28 at Fort Hays State gave head coach
Chris Herron his 400th career win in his 14th season as a head coach. He's now 411-85 (.829) overall and 336-56 (.857) 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.
118 Straight In The Polls
Lady Blues remain highest-ranked MIAA team in AVCA national poll
The Lady Blues were ranked third in the nation for the third straight week and they remained the highest-ranked MIAA team as the AVCA national poll was released Monday.
This is the fourth time this year and eighth in school history the Lady Blues have been ranked third. They've been ranked second four different times.
MIAA opponent Nebraska-Kearney remained fourth in the nation. Southwest Minnesota State remained first and Concordia-St. Paul remained second. UCM stayed moved a spot to sixth and Truman moved from 17th to 15th.
The Lady Blues earned their 118th straight ranking and their 49th 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.
School Record Winning Streak At 49 Home Matches
Lady Blues look to push it to 50 this week
• The Lady Blues have a school record as they have won their last 49 matches in Lee Arena with perfect home records in each of the last three years, counting their 10-0 record 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 141-13 (.916) coaching in Lee Arena.
• Washburn has won 64 of its last 65 home matches and 80 of its last 82.
About Coach Chris Herron
Head coach Chris Herron building solid program in 11th season
• Head Coach
Chris Herron is 336-56 (.857) in his 11th season at Washburn and 411-85 (.829) in 14 years overall as a head coach.
• He's won more games (336) in the last 11 years than any other program that has been in the MIAA during that time. Truman is second with 325.
• 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
Washburn looks for three wins against teams it beat once this year
The Lady Blues won their 13th straight match against Fort Hays State earlier this year and head coach
Chris Herron is 13-2 all-time against the Tigers. Overall, FHSU leads the series 44-35 with domination against Washburn before the Tigers joined the MIAA.
Washburn is 53-21 against Pittsburg State after winning their seventh straight in the series. Herron is 17-5 against the Gorillas. The Lady Blues improved to 3-2 against Central Oklahoma with a win earlier this year and Herron is 2-0.
Net Notes
Final points...
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Marissa Cox hit just .223 her freshman season but she's hitting .338 this year, good enough for fifth best in the league.
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Jessica Kopp has reached double figures in kills in 13 of her last 17 matches. She's hit over .400 six different times during that stretch.
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Jessica Fey was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division II national player of the week October 16 after averaging 5.00 points per set and hitting .494 in three Washburn wins the previous week. She was also named the MIAA hitter of the week. She had the second most points (33.5) and third most kills (29) in school history in the Lady Blues 3-2 win at No. 7 Central Missouri on October 13. Fey is Washburn's fourth national player of the year and the first since Monica Miesner in 2008.
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Jessica Fey was named the Lady Blues Classic (Oct. 5-6) MVP after she hit .520 during the four matches. She hit .786 against Southeastern Oklahoma with 11 kills and no errors in 14 attempts and she hit .632 against Southwestern Oklahoma. She reached double figures in kills in three of the contests.
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Hillary Hughes moved into a tie for fifth in Washburn history with her 32nd career double-double. She's seventh with 52 career double-figure kill matches and tied for seventh with 51 double-figure dig matches.
• Hughes and Fey became the eighth and ninth players
Chris Herron has coached to 1,000 kills. Washburn also put two players in the 1,000 kills club last year.
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Abby Wittman became the eighth Lady Blue to get 2,000 assists in a career and she's now eighth in Washburn history with 2,149.
• Fey leads the MIAA and she's 10th in the nation hitting .403 as she enters the week. She's fourth in the league averaging 3.37 kills a set.
Marissa Cox is fifth in the league hitting .338 and
Jessica Kopp is 10th with 2.87 kills a set.
Hillary Hughes is second in the conference averaging 0.40 aces a set.
Coming Up Next...
Regular season wraps up with one on road, two at home
The Lady Blues will play their final non-conference match in a November 6 meeting at William Jewell. It will be the first meeting between the two since 1988 and Washburn is 5-1 in the series.
Washburn will then return home to host Lindenwood on November 9 at 7 p.m. and then Nebraska-Kearney on November 10 at 6 p.m. The UNK game is currently set to be a top-five battle and it will be senior day for the Lady Blues. The Lindenwood match will be the first between the two schools as the Lions transition to NCAA Division II and this is their first year in the MIAA.
