Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Micro-Blogging The Blues
(Around 140-character or less tweets highlighting the season)
• The Lady Blues moved to 3rd in this week's national poll. This is their 113th straight ranking and 44th straight week in the top 10 #NationalRecognition
• Chris Herron is two wins away from 400 career victories. Last year he celebrated his 300th win at Washburn #CareerMilestone
• Sr. OH Hillary Hughes is 31 kills and 24 digs away from becoming the eighth member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club #EliteClub
• Jessica Fey is 62 kills and 25 blocks away from becoming the ninth member of the 1,000 kills/300 blocks club #EliteClub
• Herron is 2-3 all-time against No. 1 teams and 50-42 overall against ranked teams #ToughCompetition
• Washburn and UNK met in 2007 and hadn't met since 1993 before that. The Lopers have won 10 straight in the series #FormerFoes
• Herron is in his 11th year with a 324-55 record. He's got nine NCAA appearances, 4 MIAA titles and 15 All-Americans #GreatDecade

No. 1 Awaits Lady Blues
Herron looks for 400th win as busy week starts Tuesday at NWMSU, ends Saturday at No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney
A busy week of three MIAA matches on the road for the third-ranked Lady Blues will conclude Saturday at 4 p.m. against No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney. Washburn will start the week Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Northwest Missouri and then play Friday at Fort Hays State at 6 p.m. before playing a No. 1 team for the second straight year. Head coach Chris Herron will need two wins to get his 400th career victory.

Washburn improved to 12-0 and 4-0 in the MIAA and jumped two spots in the AVCA poll after being ranked No. 5 last week. The Lady Blues swept Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma, getting their eighth and ninth straight sweeps of the season. The Bearcats and Lopers join Washburn as three of the four undefeated teams in the MIAA. Northwest Missouri is 8-3 overall and 4-0 in the league after beating FHSU last week in its only action. The Tigers 12-5 overall and 2-2 in the league after four non-conference wins last weekend and the loss to NWMSU. The top-ranked Lopers are 11-0 and 3-0 in the league after a non-conference win against Hastings in their only action last week. They've swept nine of their 11 opponents.

Herron has a 398-84 career record in 14 years as a head coach. He coached three years at Benedictine and this is 11th year with the Lady Blues. Last year he earned his 300th win at Washburn.

113 Straight In The Polls
Lady Blues move to third and earn a first-place vote
The Lady Blues moved two spots to No. 3 in the AVCA national poll released Monday afternoon and they earned one first-place vote in the ranking.

The vote sets up a No. 1 vs No. 3 battle as Washburn concludes its busy week on Saturday at Nebraska-Kearney. The Lady Blues will first play Tuesday at Northwest Missouri State and Friday at Fort Hays State.

The Lady Blues earned their 113th straight ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and their 44th 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. Washburn has been ranked as high as second four different times and this is the fifth time being ranked third. This is Washburn's first first-place vote since October 18, 2010.

The NCAA realigned its regions this year and the MIAA has been placed with the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Great American Conference to form the Central Region. Washburn, No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 8 Central Missouri represent the MIAA while No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 6 Minnesota Duluth, No. 10 Minnesota State and No. 20 Wayne State (Neb.) make up the NSIC.

Lady Blues vs The Nation's Best
Washburn 2-3 against No. 1 teams under Herron
This will be the second straight year Washburn has played a No. 1 team and the sixth time in Chris Herron's career. He is 2-3 all-time against the top-ranked team in the AVCA national poll. Last year, the Lady Blues fell to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul in a neutral-site match and in 2007, Washburn beat No. 1 Tampa, 3-2 in Lee Arena in the quarterfinal of the NCAA national tournament. The other three contests were when Truman was ranked No. 1. The Bulldogs won two of those contests.

School Record Winning Streak At 42 Home Matches
Lady Blues will take break from streak with three on the road
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. 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 323-55 (.854) in his 11th season at Washburn and 398-84 (.826) in 14 years overall as a head coach.
• He's won more games (323) in the last 11 years than any other program that has been in the MIAA during that time. Truman is second with 311.
• 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
Lady Blues dominate recent history against NWMSU and FHSU; UNK series will be renewed after Loper dominance
The Lady Blues have won 11 of the last 12 against Northwest Missouri and they lead that all-time series, 37-19. They've won 12 straight against Fort Hays State but trail in the all-time series, 34-44. Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney last played in 2007 in a 3-1 Loper win at a tournament at Rockhurst. The Lopers have won 10 straight in the series but it hadn't been played since 1993 prior to the 2007 match. UNK leads the all-time series, 6-23.

Recapping Last Week
Lady Blues sweep two more opponents in Lee Arena
The Lady Blues picked up two more sweeps last week and for the fifth and sixth times this year, kept their opponents from scoring more than 20 points in a set. They beat Pittsburg State 25-19, 25-14, 25-11 and then topped Central Oklahoma 25-18, 25-17, 25-10.

Sophomore middle hitter Marissa Cox tied her career high twice last week with nine kills in each set. She hit .467 against PSU and .389 against UCO. She had a career-high nine blocks against the Bronchos, getting a hand on all six of Washburn's team blocks. She led Washburn with 1.17 blocks and 3.75 points a set last week.

Net Notes
Final points...
• Hillary Hughes has 969 kills and 976 digs in her career as she's nearing membership into the 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs clubs. Only seven Lady Blues have earned spots in both clubs, the last being Monica Miesner in 2007. She would become the 16th player to reach 1,000 kills after former teammates Mollie Lacy and Breanna Lewis reached 1,000 last year. Eighteen players have reached 1,000 digs at Washburn, the last being Molly Smith in 2009.
• Jessica Fey has 938 kills and 275 blocks as she seeks membership into the 1,000 kill/300 block club. Only eight Lady Blues have joined that club.
• 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 looking to go 15-0 for the first time since 2009. The winning streak that year was the longest to start a season in school history. The Lady Blues average 9.5 wins to start each season during Herron's first 10 years.
• UNK is first in the MIAA hitting .290 and Washburn is second with a .259 percentage. UNK's Katie Sokolowski is first individually hitting .419 and Fey is second with a .405 percentage. Marissa Cox is sixth at .354 and UNK has four total players in the top 10.
• Washburn leads the league allowing opponents just a .103 hitting percentage. They've kept opponents under .100 seven times and only season-opening opponent Barry was able to hit better than .200 (.202). Washburn's three MIAA opponents are hitting just .070 this year.

Coming Up Next...
Lady Blues return home to host Fall Classic
Washburn will return home October 5-6 to host the Lady Blues Fall Classic presented by The Topeka Capital Plaza Hotel. Washburn will play Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern Oklahoma State on October 5 and then Harding and Southern Nazarene on October 6. Washburn is 24-0 all-time in the Fall Classic as the event enters its seventh straight year.