Scouting the Saints
Maryville is 10-13 on the season and 2-9 in the GLVC, sitting in the West Division standings ... MU enters Tuesday's match with a 4-1 record over the last five games, dropping that lone contest to then-No. 9 Rockhurst ... The two teams have met just once, in a neutral site contest in 2010 in San Antonio, Texas that WU won, 3-0 ...  ... Against common opponents this season (Central Oklahoma and Drury), Washburn holds a 2-0 record while Maryville is 0-2 in those matches ... more information on series and stat leaders can be found on page one of the game notes.

Last Time Out
No. 14 Washburn closed homecoming weekend with Top 25 victory inside Lee Arena, sweeping No. 10 Central Oklahoma (25-22, 25-21, 25-23) on Saturday night ... Three Ichabods – Willer, Vicory and Kelsey Barrick – had double-digit kills to lead the offense ... Willer finished the night with 11 kills while Vicory and Barrick each had 10 kills ... It was Barrick's first double-digit career kill match, and came in addition to three blocks (which tied Carley Swan for the team lead) ... In addition to leading the team in kills, Willer was second among the Ichabods with 22 digs for her 14th double-double of the season ... It was the second time Willer broke the 20-dig mark for the year and trailed only Alyssa Carney for the team-high.  Carney had 23 digs as libero in her eighth 20-plus digs effort of the year ... Carney has reached double-digits in all 24 matches in 2015 ... Natalie Bates and Korie Thompson each had 12 digs to tie for third on the team, as Bates added 20 assists for her second double-double of the season ... She and Liz Powell (22 assists, four digs) shared time at setter.
 
What's Next?
Washburn returns to MIAA play this weekend for a second round of games against Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western ... the Ichabods travel to Maryville, Mo., on Friday (Oct. 30) for a 7 p.m., contest with the Bearcats before closing the weekend at the MWSU on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. ... Washburn won both matches earlier this season against NWMSU (3-0) and the Griffons (3-1) in Topeka, Kan.

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 victory last weekend over then-No. 10 UCO played a key role in keeping the Ichabods' NCAA Tournament hopes alive, as will all matches down the stretch in the final month of the season as Washburn is in the mix for its sixth MIAA Championship under Chris Herron ... 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 4.27 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 41 double-doubles in her career, which is currently fifth all-time at Washburn (No. 4 has 55), and 64 double-figure kill matches, which is sixth all-time (No. 5 has 65) ... Through 24 games this season, Willer has 350 kills, which is first in the MIAA and first on the Washburn squad ... that pace is ahead of her 2014 efforts, when she had 280 kills through 24 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 is also now 17th on the career kills list with 1,110 kills, passing Breanna Lewis (1,091) and Debbie McCormick (1,108) the weekend of Oct. 23-24 ... No. 16 on the list is Mandi Cox, who finished her career with 1,148 kills ... Willer's career kill standings can be found on page five of the game notes.

New Kid on The Block
Sarah Vicory became the newest member of Washburn's 300 block club last Friday, Oct. 23 against Pittsburg State with a two-block effort ... Vicory is the 17th all-time at Washburn to achieve the feat, and now has 302 in just her third season as an Ichabod ... Vicory will now look to climb the career blocks record list, with No. 10 (Susan Waller) sitting at 364 career blocks ... Vicory is on pace to join the 1,000 kills club sometime next season, as she sits with 783 so far for her career ... if she achieves that feat, she'd be the 20th member of the kills club and the 11th all-time at WU to have over 1,000 kills and 300 blocks in a career.

Eyeing No. 500
With seven games remaining in Washburn's regular season schedule (and a berth to the MIAA Tournament nearly solidified), head coach Chris Herron is six games away from career win No. 500 at four-year colleges ... Herron won his 400th game at Washburn earlier this season and is 494-103 in 17 seasons with the Ichabods ... entering the 2015 season, Herron ranked 16th among winningest active coaches in all NCAA Divisions (I, II and III) and  16th all-time overall ... In Division II alone, Herron entered 2015 eighth among active coaches and sixth all-time overall

All-Around Threat
After joining the 1,000 kills club on Oct. 3, Leanna Willer will now look at becoming the ninth Washburn volleyball player to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career ... Willer is just 46 digs away from the 1,000 mark in her three-year career thus far ... the all-around threat has 350 kills and 252 digs for the Ichabods this season.

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.

Career Milestones
Several Ichabods have broken career milestone markers this season ... Taylor Selk reached the 200-kill mark against Nebraska-Kearney on Oct. 9 ... Carley Swan had her 100th career kill on Oct. 10 at Fort Hays State and her 100th career block on Oct. 16 against Northwest Missouri State ... Korie Thompson recorded career kill No. 400 on Oct. 10 at Fort Hays State and her 500th career dig on Sept. 5 at home against Drury ... Liz Powell took over the starting setter role as a senior this season and recorded her 1,000 career assist on Oct. 23 against Pittsburg State ... a milestone watch list is available on page five of the game notes.

Can You Dig It?
Washburn's Alyssa Carney's average of 5.34 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 24 games this season for digs, and she has eighth 20-plus dig efforts ... Her career-high is 31 against Drury on Sept. 5.

A Closer Look at the AVCA Poll (Week 7 Poll - Oct. 19)
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 ... an updated poll will be released the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 26, but was not available at the time of Monday's pre-game release ... the complete AVCA poll can be found on page three of the game notes.

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.

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 419-73 mark in his 14 seasons ... at four-year colleges, Herron is now 494-103 in 17 seasons and could reach career win No. 500 by season's end.

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 2-1 against ranked opponents this season, picking up a Top 10 victory over then-No. 10 Central Oklahoma on Oct. 24 ... information on Washburn's ranked wins can be found on page three of the game notes.

National and MIAA Leaders (as of Oct. 22)
Washburn ranks among the national and MIAA leaders in several team and individual categories ... rankings as of Oct. 22 are below (an updated ranking will be released Monday, Oct. 26 but was not available at press time) ...
 

Category	NCAA Rank	MIAA Rank	Value
Team Attacks Per Set (282 ranked)	4	1	40.19
Digs Per Set (282 ranked)	6	1	19.35
Match W-L Pct (280 ranked)	7	2	0.909
Team Digs (282 ranked)	17	1	1,490
Assists Per Set (282 ranked)	18	2	13.12
Kills Per Set (282 ranked)	19	2	14
Team Assists (282 ranked)	27	3	1,010
Team Total Attacks (282 ranked)	27	1	3,095
Team Kills (282 ranked)	30	3	1,078
Opp Hitting Percentage (282 ranked)	36	2	0.141
Team Total Blocks (282 ranked)	36	1	170
Blocks Per Set (282 ranked)	38	2	2.21
Category	NCAA Rank	MIAA Rank	Value
Total Kills (Leanna Willer)	10	2	329
Kills Per Set (Leanna Willer)	10	1	4.33
Total Attacks (Leanna Willer)	15	2	906
Points Per Set (Leanna Willer)	14	2	4.78
Attacks Per Set (Leanna Willer)	15	1	11.92
Total Blocks (Sarah Vicory)	26	1	90
Blocks Per Set (Sarah Vicory)	30	1	1.17
Total Digs (Alyssa Carney)	40	3	401
Digs Per Set (Alyssa Carney)	47	5	5.28

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.

Success in Season Openers
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.

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's final game against a non-conference opponent in the regular season for 2015 is on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 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.