Scouting the Gorillas
Pittsburg State has won just one game this season, a 3-1 win at Southwest Baptist two weeks ago (Oct. 9) ... PSU enters Friday's match with a 4-1 record over the last five games ... Washburn leads the all-time series, 58-21, with the Gorillas, and hasn't lost since 2008 (a streak of 12 straight matches) ... Under Chris Herron, Washburn is 22-5 in the series since 2002 ... Against common opponents this season, Washburn holds a 13-2 record while PSU is 1-14 in those matches ... more information on series and stat leaders can be found on page one of the game notes.

Scouting the Bronchos
Central Oklahoma enters the weekend undefeated in conference play with just one loss on the year ... At 19-1 (9-0 MIAA), UCO has won 15 consecutive games ... the only loss came on Sept. 11 against Florida Southern ... Washburn has won seven of 10 all-time contests with Central Oklahoma, including a 6-1 mark under Chris Herron ... the lone loss while Herron has been at Washburn came last season in a five-set match on the road (in Edmond, Okla.) ... more information on series and stat leaders can be found on page one of the game notes.

Last Time Out
Washburn Volleyball won its 20th game of the season on Saturday, Oct. 17, defeating Missouri Western, 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17) at Lee Arena ... The 15th-ranked Ichabods (20-2, 8-2 MIAA) stumbled out of the gate with a defeat in the first set, but rallied for three straight game wins to take the match ... Leanna Willer (17 kills, 10 digs) and Liz Powell (28 assists, 15 digs) had double-doubles for the Ichabods, while Taylor Selk reached double-digits with 13 kills ... Korie Thompson (21 digs, nine kills) and Shayla Conner (17 assists, eight digs) just missed a double-doubles ... Alyssa Carney's 28 digs was her second-highest total of the season and paced the Ichabod defense ... At the net, Swan had six blocks while Thompson, Willer and Selk each added two blocks ... the win helped Washburn overtake the second spot in the MIAA standings, previously held by MWSU.

What's Next?
Washburn hits the road next week for three games ... the Ichabods travel to Maryville in St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, Oct. 27 before closing the weekend with rematches against Northwest Missouri (Friday, Oct. 30) and Missouri Western (Saturday, Oct. 31).

NCAA Tournament Outlook
Though no official regional rankings have been released this season, Washburn looks to be in the mix for its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth in 2015 ... The Ichabods, currently second in the MIAA standings, are one of 12 NCAA Central Region teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25, and though the AVCA poll has no effect on the NCAA Tournament seeding, it provides a look into the NCAA Tournament picture ... Washburn's Saturday's match with UCO will have key MIAA and NCAA Tournament implications, as Washburn is in the mix for its sixth MIAA Championship under Chris Herron, and is fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament ... the first official NCAA Region Rankings are released next Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Record Pace
After becoming the 19th member of the Washburn 1,000 kills club on Oct. 3, junior outside hitter Leanna Willer now sets her sights on climbing the Ichabod kills chart, while also approaching a single-season record ... if the season ended today, Willer's 4.33 kills per set average would rank her third all-time in Washburn's history behind Tessa Jones' 2007 average of 4.47 kills per set and Dani McHenry's 4.34 kills per set mark ... Additionally, Willer has 40 double-doubles in her career, which is currently fifth all-time at Washburn (No. 4 has 55), and 62 double-figure kill matches, which is sixth all-time (No. 5 has 65) ... Through 22 games this season, Willer has 329 kills, which is second in the MIAA and first on the Washburn squad ... that pace is ahead of her 2014 efforts, when she had 249 kills through 22 games on her way to a 383-kill total on the season ... The school record for kills in a season is 657, and No. 10 on the single-season kills list is 498 ... Willer's career kill standings can be found on page five of the game notes.

Vicory Approaching 300 Career Blocks
Sarah Vicory enters the weekend (Oct. 23-24) just two blocks away from No. 300 in her career ... she would become the 17th Ichabod all-time to reach that mark in a career, and is on pace to join the 1,000 kills club sometime next season (Vicory currently has 760 kills over three years) ... if she reaches the 1,000 kills and 300 blocks milestones, she would become the 11th Ichabod to achieve that in a career.

1,000 Kills / 1,000 Digs Club on the Horizon for Willer
After joining the 1,000 kills club on Oct. 3, Leanna Willer will now look at becoming the nine Washburn volleyball player to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career ... Willer is just 7.3 digs away from the 1,000 mark in her three-year career thus far.

Can You Dig It?
Washburn's Alyssa Carney's average of 5.16 digs per set leads the Ichabods this season, and if the 2015 campaign ended today would place her fifth on the school's single season digs per set record list ... Carney has reached double-digits in all 22 games this season for digs, including a career-high 31 against Drury on Sept. 5 and a 28-dig effort against Missouri Western on Oct. 17.

Career Kill Milestones
Taylor Selk broke the 200-kill barrier for her career last week at Nebraska-Kearney in a match she had 13 kills in ... entering the weekend, Selk needed nine kills to reach the mark and finished the two games with 31 ... She is in just her second season at WU and is averaging 2.32 kills per set this season ... Another sophomore, Carley Swan, had her 100th career kill on Saturday, Oct. 10 at FHSU ... she now has 109 in her second season at middle hitter and is averaging 1.06 kills per set in 2015 ... Senior outside hitter Korie Thompson entered last weekend needing nine kills to break the 400-kill barrier ... she had 21 for the weekend and reached the milestone with a 15-kill effort against Fort Hays State and is now 71 kills from 500 for her career.

1,000 Kill Club
Leanna Willer entered the weekend of Oct. 2-3 needing just 25 kills to reach the 1,000 mark for her career, and came up with the magic number during the second set of Washburn's win over Missouri Southern on Oct. 3 ... Willer finished the weekend with 48 total kills and became the 19th all-time member of the Washburn 1,000 kills club.

National and MIAA Leaders (as of Oct. 19)
Washburn ranks among the national and MIAA leaders in several team and individual categories ... those rankings are below...
 

Category	NCAA Rank	MIAA Rank	Value
Digs Per Set	5	1	19.35
Team Attacks Per Set	5	1	40.19
Match W-L Pctg.	6	2	0.909
Team Assists	12	2	1,010
Kills Per Set	16	2	14
Team Digs	16	1	1,490
Assists Per Set	18	2	13.12
Team Kills	19	2	1,078
Team Total Attacks	20	1	3,095
Team Total Blocks	28	1	170
Blocks Per Set	38	2	2.21

 

Category	NCAA Rank	MIAA Rank	Value
Total Kills (Leanna Willer)	7	2	329
Kills Per Set (Leanna Willer)	10	1	4.33
Total Attacks (Leanna Willer)	12	2	906
Points Per Set (Leanna Willer)	14	2	4.78
Attacks Per Set (Leanna Willer)	15	1	11.92
Total Blocks (Sarah Vicory)	19	1	90
Blocks Per Set (Sarah Vicory)	30	1	1.17
Total Digs (Alyssa Carney)	31	2	401
Total Assists (Liz Powell)	43	5	760
Digs Per Set (Alyssa Carney)	45	3	5.28

Carney Named MIAA Specialist of the Week
Washburn's Alyssa Carney was named the MIAA Volleyball Specialist of the Week for her performance over three games last week, announced Monday, Sept. 28, by the league office ... Carney, a junior libero, averaged 7.11 digs per set in conference play for 64 total digs on the week ... Carney had 20-plus dig efforts in all three matches, finishing with 22 against Emporia State and No. 14 Nebraska-Kearney and 20 against Fort Hays State ... She also had a perfect 1.000 defensive percentage on the week while notching her third, fourth and fifth 20-plus kill efforts for the season.

Ranked Win A Historic One
Washburn's 3-0 sweep of Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 25 was a historical one for the program for several reasons ... it was Washburn's first win over the Lopers since 2013, and just the third win for head coach Chris Herron while at Washburn ... additionally, it was Washburn's first sweep of UNK since 1977 ... Washburn is now 1-1 against ranked opponents this season ... information on Washburn's ranked wins can be found on page three of the game notes.

All-Tournament Performers
Washburn wrapped up invitational play last weekend at the GAC/MIAA Crossover, and saw Leanna Willer (51 kills, 30 digs) and Liz Powell (87 assists, 29 digs) earn All-Tournament honors ... it was the third All-Tournament honor for Willer this season, after she also earned the award at the Washburn Invitaitonal and the Steel & Silver Classic ... Sarah Vicory was picked MVP of the Washburn Invitational, earning all-tourney honors with Willer and Powell ... at the Steel & Silver Classic, Willer and Alyssa Carney were picked All-Tournament.

A Closer Look at the AVCA Poll 
Washburn Volleyball moved up one spot to No. 14 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, released Monday, Oct. 19 by the organization ... WU received 577 voting points, up from a No. 15 ranking (and 549 points) last week ... This week's rankings features 12 teams from the NCAA Central Region (where Washburn competes), including six in the Top 10: Northern State (No. 2), Concordia-St. Paul (No. 4), Southwest Minnesota State (No. 5), Wayne State (tied, No. 6), Minnesota Duluth (No. 8) and Central Oklahoma (No. 10) ... No. 12 Central Missouri sits just ahead of Washburn, while Nebraska-Kearney (No. 16), Augustana (No. 21) and Winona State (No. 25) round out the regional teams in the poll ... Arkansas-Fort Smith and Missouri Western are also receiving votes ... Washburn has been ranked in 155 consecutive polls dating back to 2003 ... the complete AVCA poll can be found on page three of the game notes.

Success in Season Opener
The Ichabods are 14-0 in season openers under head coach Chris Herron ... all-time, the Ichabods are 33-14 in season openers ... dating back to 1989 when Washburn joined the MIAA (and NCAA), the Ichabods are 22-5 in season openers.

No. 400
Washburn's 3-1 win over Black Hills State on Saturday, Sept. 5 was head coach Chris Herron's 400th at the school ... Herron holds an impressive 417-73 mark in his 14 seasons ... at four-year colleges, Herron is now 492-102 in 17 seasons and could reach career win No. 500 by season's end.

Who's Back
14 Ichabods return from last season, including 12 letterwinners ... two seniors, six juniors and four sophomores make up the core of the roster, with two redshirt freshman making their Ichabod debuts in 2015 ... key returners include middle hitter Sarah Vicory (2014 AVCA All-American), outside hitter Leanna Willer (Daktronics All-Region Second Team) ... setter Natalie Bates (All-MIAA Second Team) and libero Alyssa Carney (All-MIAA Honorable Mention).

Non-Conference Outlook
Washburn has 13 non-conference games schedule for its 2015 regular season, and the Ichabods have winning records in all 13 series, historically ... WU is 58-19 against its 2015 non-conference opponents, combined (and including 2015 non-conference games thus far) ... Washburn has just non-conference opponent remaining in the regular season (Maryville) ... all-time records against 2015 opponents can be found on page 4 of the game notes.

A Culture of Excellence
The Ichabods have made a habit out of appearing in the NCAA, reaching that milestone the past 11 years and 12 times under head coach Chris Herron ... additionally, Washburn has won five MIAA Championships under Herron and has its sights set on another in 2015 ... This season, Washburn returns an All-American to the court for the eighth straight year in Sarah Vicory, one of 22 all-time All-Americans at Washburn.

MIAA Preseason Poll
Washburn picked up two first-place votes and 108 total points to earn the second spot in the 2015 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll ... WU was one of three teams to earn first-place votes, joining Central Missouri, who was picked first with 119 points and nine first-place votes, and Nebraska-Kearney, picked third (98 points, one first-place vote) ... Central Oklahoma (95 points), returns the MIAA Player of the Year, and Missouri Western (84 points) rounded out the top five ... the complete MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll can be found on page six of the game notes.