Complete Game Notes (pdf)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The 10th ranked Ichabods will open their 46th season of volleyball with four matches this weekend at the Midwestern State Hampton Inn-vitational. Friday they'll play Southwestern Oklahoma State at 9 a.m. and then Arkansas Tech at 4:30 p.m. Saturday they'll play Fort Lewis at 9 a.m. and Northwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m.
Ichablogging Weekly Notes
WU is opening its 46th season of volleyball and 13th under
Chris Herron.
Herron has opened each of his previous 12 seasons on the road in weekend classics and he's 48-0 in those matches.
The Ichabods went 31-6 last year and won a share of their third MIAA title in the last four years with a 15-1 conference record.
Washburn was picked second in the MIAA preseason coaches poll with four of the 12 first-place votes. The Ichabods were ranked 10th in the AVCA national preseason poll and have been ranked 135 straight times. This is their fifth straight year opening the season in the top 10.
Washburn returns an All-American to the court for the 8th straight season with senior rightside hitter
Marissa Cox. She enters the year third in school history with a .325 career attack percentage, one point below her sister (Mandi Cox, 2004-07) and three points above current assistant coach
Jessica Fey (2009-12).
Cox starts the year with 885 kills, 20th best at Washburn. She needs 115 to become the 18th Ichabod to reach 1,000 in a career.
She led the MIAA last year hitting .337 and was third with 3.69 kills a set.
Leanna Willer was ninth in the league as a freshman last year with 3.02 kills a set.
Sarah Vicory, also a freshman last year, was ninth in the MIAA with a .302 attack percentage.
Washburn returns just seven letterwinners and 15 of the 19 players on the roster are freshmen or sophomores. Of the newcomers, three are NCAA I transfers and one is a junior college All-American and national champion.
Washburn is 3-0 against Southwest Oklahoma having last met in 2012 in a Washburn tournament. The Ichabods are 5-2 against Arkansas Tech with five straight wins including one last year. Washburn is 4-3 against Fort Lewis with a win in the last match in 2009. The Ichabods are 2-1 against Northwestern Oklahoma with a win in 2012.
2014 Season PreviewThe Ichabods will put a previous All-American on the court for the eighth straight year with senior rightside hitter
Marissa Cox. She will be the only senior on this young team - 15 of the 19 players are freshmen or sophomores - that is made up of seven returners, four transfers, a redshirt freshman and seven freshmen out of high school.
SettersNatalie Bates is a sophomore returner,
Liz Powell is an NCAA Division I transfer and
Shayla Conner is a freshman. Bates played in 12 matches and averaged 2.56 assists as a backup setter. Powell played in 17 matches at North Texas in 2011 before an injury that kept out until now. Conner set Kearney Catholic High School's career assists record with over 2,700 and she was named the state player of the year as a senior. The Stars won state championships her last two years.
Liberos/Defensive SpecialistsLast year's class of seniors included three ball control players and Herron will have to replace them with the seven defensive specialists he has this year.
Kylie Miller and
Callie Lowry make up the two returners.
Alyssa Carney is a DI transfer and
McKenzie Hartzog is the first junior college transfer to play for Herron.
Tatiana Schafer is a freshman who redshirted last year and
Jade Hodge and
Jessica Abendroth are freshmen out of high school.
Lowry played in every match as a back row player and Miller played in 20 matches.
Carney played at Wichita State as a freshman last year in all but one match and averaged 1.97 digs a set. Hartzog played her first two years at Cowley County Community College and was an All-American last year as the Tigers were national champions.
Schafer will look to return to the court after she graduated in 2013 from Seaman High School as an all-state player. Hodge was a two-time all-state selection at Mission Valley High School and Abendroth helped Santa Fe Trail High School win a state championship.
The HittersAll-conference and first team All-American selection
Marissa Cox returns at rightside hitter and she will be challenged for playing time by DI transfer
Erika Lane. Cox, the only senior on the team, starts the year third at Washburn with a .325 career attack percentage. She hit .337 last year to lead the MIAA and she was third with 3.69 kills a set. She hit .450 or better 10 times. Lane was the league and Topeka city player of the year at Washburn Rural High School in 2012 as a senior and then she played basketball at NCAA Division I Tulsa last year. She was a three-time all-state selection as the Junior Blues won the state title three of her four years.
Experience will also return to the outside hitter spot where all-conference player
Leanna Willer comes back as a sophomore and
Korie Thompson will return as a junior. Freshmen
Taylor Selk and
Mattie-Ann Swenson will also look for playing time. Willer was a third team all-MIAA selection as she was ninth in the league with 3.02 kills a set. She added 3.06 digs a set and 15 double-double matches. Thompson returned from a medical redshirt last year and played in 31 matches with three starts. She averaged 1.60 kills and 1.77 digs. Selk was a two-time all-state hitter at Shawnee Heights High School and the Thunderbirds finished second in state her junior year. Swenson was a two-time all-district player at Liberty High School.
Sarah Vicory is the final of the three Ichabods returning as an all-MIAA player and she's the only middle hitter on the roster at preseason. She started every match as a freshman last year and was ninth in the MIAA with a .302 attack percentage. She hit at least .450 in nine matches and she will be the leading returning blocker.
Two freshmen,
Paige Regnier and
Carley Swan will start the year looking to fill holes in the three hitting positions. Regnier played all three attacking positions at McPherson High School and was a first team all-state outside hitter as a senior. Swan played outside and middle at Olathe South High School. She led her team in kills and aces her senior year.
