Scouting the Bearcats
Northwest Missouri is sixth in conference standings entering the weekend with a 7-4 MIAA record ... Washburn has won 29 of 31 matchups with the Bearcats while Chris Herron has been head coach, including the ccurrent streak of 11 games (witih one win earlier this season) ... Northwest Missouri is 3-2 in its previous five contests and three straight ... more information on series and stat leaders can be found on page one of the game notes.

Scouting the Griffons
Missouri Western enters the weekend sitting third in the MIAA standings at 9-2 in conference play, one half game behind Washburn ... Washburn has controlled a majority of the series under the direction of Chris Herron, at 23-2 since 2002, but the two losses both came last year (2014)  ... Washburn beat MWSU, 3-1, earlier this season at Lee Arena ... Missouri Western is 4-1 in its previous five games entering the weekend, with the only loss the contest at Washburn ... more information on series and stat leaders can be found on page one of the game notes.

Last Time Out
No. 10 Washburn Volleyball shook off an upset-minded Maryville Saints squad to push its winning streak to six games on Tuesday, Oct. 27, picking up 3-2 (24-26, 25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 15-9) victory to close out its non-conference regular season schedule ... Four Ichabods recorded double-doubles while three reached double-digits in kills ... Korie Thompson and Sarah Vicory tied for the team-lead with 16 kills, as Thompson added 17 digs for her second double-double of the season ... Leanna Willer finished with 11 kills to go with 27 digs (her second consecutive 20-dig effort) for a double-double, while Jordan Hoffman (nine kills) just missed double-digits ... Liz Powell (31 assists, 11 digs) and Natalie Bates (25 assists, 11 digs) each had double-doubles while sharing time at setter ... In the back row, Alyssa Carney recorded her second 30-plus dig effort of the season, leading the Icahbods defense with 30 ... Carley Swan had six blocks, just ahead of Taylor Selk (five blocks), who also added eighth kills.
 
What's Next?
Washburn returns to Lee Arena for its final home games of the regular season ... The Ichabods host Lindenwood on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., before taking on No. 12 Central Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. ... Saturday's game will be senior day as McKenzie Hartzog, Liz Powell and Korie Thompson will be honored prior to the match.

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, Nov. 4.

Bods Go Undefeated in Non-Conference Play
Washburn closed out its non-conference portion of the 2015 regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 27 with a 3-2 win over Maryville ... that victory moved the Ichabods to 13-0 on the year in non-conference games ... WU went undefeated against regular season non-conference opponents last season as well, and hasn't dropped a regular season, non-conference match since Sept. 20, 2013 ... all-time records against 2015 opponents can be found on page 4 of the game notes.

Ichabods Sweep Oct. 26 MIAA Athletes of the Week
Washburn's Leanna Willer and Alyssa Carney swept the MIAA Athlete of the Week awards, announced Monday, Oct. 26 by the conference office ... Willer was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week while Carney was tabbed as the MIAA Specialist of the Week ... Willer had 21 kills (3.50 per set) and 27 digs (4.50 per set) and Carney averaged 6.17 digs per set (37 total digs) with three service aces over the weekend.

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 4.15 kills per set average would rank her fifth all-time in Washburn's history ... Additionally, Willer has 42 double-doubles in her career, which is currently fifth all-time at Washburn (No. 4 has 55), and 65 double-figure kill matches, which is tied for fifth all-time (No. 4 has 70) ... Through 25 games this season, Willer has 361 kills, which is second in the MIAA and first on the Washburn squad ... that pace is ahead of her 2014 efforts, when she had 294 kills through 25 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 1,121 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 307 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 799 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 five victories away from career win No. 500 at four-year colleges ... Herron won his 400th game at Washburn earlier this season and is 495-103 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 19 digs away from the 1,000 mark in her three-year career thus far ... the all-around threat has 361 kills and 279 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, her 500th career dig on Sept. 5 at home against Drury and her 700th career dig on Oct. 27 at Maryville ... 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 5.38 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 25 games this season for digs, and she has nine 20-plus dig efforts and two 30-plus dig matches ... Her career-high is 31 against Drury on Sept. 5, and she finished with 30 on Oct. 27 at Maryville.

A Closer Look at the AVCA Poll
Washburn Volleyball returned to the Top 10 in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, released Monday, Oct. 26 by the organization ... WU, picked 14th last week, moved up four spots to No. 10 with 752 voting points ... UCO slipped to No. 12 in the rankings but remained with Washburn as two of the four MIAA schools in the AVCA poll – joining Nebraska-Kearney (No. 13) and Central Missouri (No. 15) ... Those four schools are part of 12 Central Regional teams in the national rankings ... The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has eight teams in the Top 25, including five in the Top 10: Northern State (No. 2), Concordia-St. Paul (No. 3), Southwest Minnesota State (No. 4), Wayne State (No. 6) and Minnesota Duluth (No. 9) ... Additionally, Central Region teams Missouri Western, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Minnesota State are receiving votes ... Washburn has now been ranked in 156 consecutive polls dating back to 2003 ... the complete AVCA poll for is available 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.

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).

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.

Early Success
Under Chris Herron, WU has a history of starting the season hot in the first month of play, including an 13-1 record this season and a 13-1 record in 2014 ... Washburn nearly completed the month of September undefeated, but was dealt a loss in the final game of the opening month last week ... All-time under Herron, is 211-25 in the first month of the season (August and September combined) ... The Ichabods have lost no more than four games in the first month of the season since Herron's arrival, and no more than three since 2006 ... Over the last five years (since 2010), Washburn has gone 79-8 in the first month of the season.