NCAA Central Region Quick Info
The NCAA Central Region Tournament is hosted by Concordia-St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn. ... the tournament, held Dec. 3-5, will take place at the Gangelhoff Center on CU's campus ... tickets for the event will be sold on a daily basis, with no weekend passes available ... ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students and kids five and under are free ... gates open one hour prior to matches (11 a.m. for Washburn's first round match) ... fans can visit the tournament page using the link above ... all matches will have live stream and live stats available through CU's website (cugoldenbears.com) or through the tournament page ... press conferences will also be streamed and will be available on demand through the tournament page.

Scouting the Mustangs
Southwest Minnesota State (25-5, 17-3 NSIC) earned its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid as an at-large selection to the NCAA Central Region Tournament ... SMSU is ranked fourth nationally in the Nov. 23 version of the AVCA Top 25 (see page three) and has been ranked in the top 10 for the last 36 weeks ... SMSU, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, has faced just one common opponent to the Ichabods, defeating Augustana in both matchups this season (3-1 and 3-2) ... the Mustangs finished third in the NSIC Standings and reached the NSIC Tournament semifinals, where they lost to Winona State, 3-2 ... the Ichabods last faced SMSU in the NCAA Tournament in 2013, a narrow 3-2 loss in Duluth, Minn., in an opening round matchup between the No. 4 (WU) and No. 5 (SMSU) seeds ... that was also the only meeting historically between the two programs ... more information on the matchup, including stat leaders and coaching records can be found on page one of the game notes.

NCAA Central Region Preview
The NCAA Central Region Tournament will be held Dec. 3-5 in St. Paul, Minn., hosted by top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul ... Washburn qualified as the No. 6 seed and is one of four MIAA schools to make the national tournament ... three schools from the NSIC and one from the GAC fill the rest of the tournament field ... Concordia (NSIC), Central Missouri (MIAA) and Southwestern Oklahoma State (GAC) earned automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments ...  the opening round is Thursday, Dec. 3, with the semifinals being played on Friday, Dec. 4 ... The regional championship match is Saturday, with the winners of the eight regional tournaments around the nation advancing to the NCAA Championships, held Dec. 10-12 in Tampa, Fla. ... official seeding for the NCAA Central Region can be found on page three of the game notes ... The complete bracket can be found on page 33 of the game notes, with an NCAA Central Region specific bracket on page 34.

Last Time Out
EDMOND, Okla. – Fourth-seeded Washburn Volleyball was eliminated from the MIAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 20 with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-22) loss at top-seeded Central Oklahoma in the semifinals ... Sarah Vicory led the Ichabods with 11 kills and eight blocks, hitting .440 on the night ... Korie Thompson and Carley Swan each had eight kills, as Thompson added 15 digs and Swan had six block assists ... Alyssa Carney led the team with 21 digs and McKenzie Hartzog joined her and Thompson in double-digits with 11 digs ... Natalie Bates (15 assists), Shayla Conner (13 assists) and Liz Powell (11 assists) split time at setter and all had double-digit assists ... As a team, Washburn had 15 total blocks on the night, its second-highest total of the season.
 
WU in the NCAA Tournament
Washburn is in its 13th NCAA Tournament all-time (and 12th consecutive) under head coach Chris Herron ... Washburn is 11-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, 6-6 in the opening round and 9-8 in neutral site games.  Washburn has been the No. 6 seed just once in the NCAA Tournament (2012), and are 1-2 all-time against the No. 3 seed ... as the lower seed, Washburn is 1-5 in NCAA Tournament play ... in-depth information on the Ichabods in the NCAA Tournament can be found on page six of the game notes.

WU in the MIAA Tournament
Washburn locked up the fourth seed in the MIAA Championships and began its 2015 postseason run on Tuesday with a 3-2 win over Missouri Western before falling in the semifinals to No. 1 seed Central Oklahoma, 3-1 ... Central Missouri defeated UCO in the finals ... all-time, the Ichabods are 8-9 in the tournament dating back to 1992 ... Washburn had never been the No. 4 seed prior to this season, but as the higher seed, the Ichabods are 8-5 ... as the lower seed, WU is 0-4 ... Washburn has never won an MIAA Tournament Championship as well, reaching the finals in 2005 and 2006 ... a completed bracket for the MIAA Tournament is on page 32 of the game notes.

Six Ichabods Garner All-MIAA Honors
Washburn Volleyball's Leanna Willer and Sarah Vicory were unanimous first team selections as six Ichabods were named All-MIAA, released Tuesday, Nov. 17 by the conference office ... Taylor Selk, Liz Powell and Alyssa Carney were second team picks and Korie Thompson earned honorable mention honors ... Vicory and Willer are repeat first team selections from 2014, and are both three-time All-MIAA picks. Willer was named to the third team in 2013 and Vicory was honorable mention as a freshman ... Carney was named All-MIAA honorable mention as a sophomore last season, and Powell and Thompson are first time selections.

Volleyball Inks Five in Early Signing Period
Washburn Volleyball head coach Chris Herron announced five newcomers have signed their National Letters of Intent in the early signing period ... The five signees are all seniors in Kansas high schools this year and will enroll at Washburn for the 2016 season as true freshman ... the signees are Mariah Grunert (Topeka, Kan.), Megan Pederson (McPherson, Kan.), Erica Montgomery (Salina, Kan.), Balie Stamps (Salina, Kan.) and Jaime Weible (Bonner Springs, Kan.)

Carney On A Tear, Rising on Record Charts
Alyssa Carney has double-digit digs in all 33 matches this season (and 38 straight reaching into last year) ... Carney currently holds the No. 5 spot on WU's single-season digs record list with 645 digs on the year (No. 4 has 654, No. 3 has 720) ... if the season ended today, Carney's 5.51 digs per set average would be the fourth highest in school history (No. 3 has 5.55, No. 2 has 5.58) for a single-season ... Carney's 43 digs against Central Oklahoma on Nov. 14 is tied for third most in school history for single match (and second in school history for a five-set match) ... the school record for digs in a match is 51, set by Erika Cowhick in 2006 ... she was an All-MIAA First Team selection in 2015 and is in the running for All-Region awards from the AVCA and D2CCA. 

We've Got The First One
Washburn is 20-1 when winning the first set ... The Ichabods have surrended the first set 12 times this season and are 8-4 in those matches ... the only loss when winning the first set came in the regular season finale at Central Oklahoma.

Don't Call it a Comeback
Though no team wants to fall behind early in a match, Washburn has proved its capable of comebacks all season ... in matches the Ichabods have lost the first set, Washburn is 8-4 on the season, including five 3-2 wins ... In matches the Ichabods split the first two sets, Washburn is an impressive 8-1 on the year ... WU was dealt its first loss in the category in the MIAA semifinals (3-1) at Central Oklahoma.

Senior Leaders
McKenzie Hartzog, Liz Powell and Korie Thompson are the three seniors on this year's team and have provided key leadership for the Ichabods throughout the campaign ... Powell leads the team with 1,040 assists (8.89 per set) and 25 service aces, sitting third on the team with 343 digs while starting every game at setter ... Thompson has 171 kills (fourth on the team) and 341 digs (fourth on the team) while going over the 500-dig and 500-kill mark for her career this season ... Hartzog has put together eight double-digit dig efforts on the year and has 16 service aces, appearing in all 33 matches.

Young Guns
Sophomores Taylor Selk and Carley Swan and freshman Kelsey Barrick have been relied on throughout the year to step up, despite their youth ... Selk is third on the team with 275 kills and was an All-MIAA Second Team pick, adding 73 blocks (0.62 per set) and 74 digs ... Swan is second on the team with 95 total blocks (0.86 per set) while tallying 132 kills (5th on the team) ... Barrick has 106 kills and 35 blocks in 23 games.

Neutral Site, No Problem
Except for a potential matchup with host Concordia-St. Paul, all matches for Washburn this weekend will be neutral site contests ... the Ichabods are a perfect 6-0 in neutral site games this season, including five 3-0 wins.

Herron Wins No. 500
Washburn's win over Missouri Western on Tuesday, Nov. 17 to open MIAA Tournament play was No. 500 for Ichabod head coach Chris Herron at four-year colleges ... Herron is now 500-105 in 17 seasons.

Climbing Charts
After becoming the 19th member of the Washburn 1,000 kills club on Oct. 3 and the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club on Oct. 31, junior outside hitter Leanna Willer has raced up the Ichabods' career kills charts this season ... she currently sits tied for 12th on the list with 1,224 kills (tied with Shanna Haslett) and is less than 100 kills away from the top 10 (No. 10, Susan Crooks, finished her career with 1,310) ... Willer's 4.03 kills per set average currently ranks as the sixth best single-season performance in WU history ... Willer has 47 double-doubles in her career, which is currently fifth all-time at Washburn (No. 4 has 55), and 71 double-figure kill matches, which is tied for fourth all-time (No. 3 has 78) ... Through 33 games this season, Willer has 464 kills, which is second in the MIAA and first on the Washburn squad ... that pace is already 85 ahead of her 2014 efforts where she finished with 383 kills in 31 games played ... Willer's career kill standings (along with other milestones) can be found on page five of the game notes.

CoSIDA Academic All-Region Honors
Washburn Volleyball's Alyssa Carney and Leanna Willer were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Teams, announced Thursday, Nov. 5 ... Carney, a junior libero, is a Biology major with a 4.00 grade point average ... Willer, a junior outside hitter, has a 3.95 GPA in Mathematics ... the two will now go on the Academic All-America ballot, which will be released in December.

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.

Willer joins Ichabods' 1,000 Kills/1,000 Digs Club
Leanna Willer entered the Oct. 31 match with Missouri Western just 12 digs away from No. 1,000 for her career and finished the night with 14, surpassing the mark ... Willer joined the 1,000 kills club on Oct. 3 as the 19th member, and is now the ninth Ichabod all-time to record 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in a career.

Strong on the Block; Vicory leads MIAA
Sarah Vicory has made a name for herself as one of the nation's best middle hitters and is one of the Ichabods' leaders this season ... the junior became the newest member of Washburn's 300 block club on Friday, Oct. 23 against Pittsburg State and now has 330 for her career ... she is the 17th Ichabod all-time to achieve the feat and is on pace to join the 1,000 kills club sometime next season (currently has 885 kills) ... if she reached that milestone, Vicory would be the 20th member of the 1,000 kills club and the 11th all-time at Washburn to have over 1,000 kills and 300 blocks in a career ... Vicory also leads the MIAA in hitting percentage for the second straight season, hitting .363 for the year through 33 games ... additionally this season, Vicory has 133 blocks to lead the MIAA with 1.13 blocks per set.

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.

Bods Go Undefeated in Regular Season 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.

A Closer Look at the AVCA Poll
Washburn Volleyball stayed put at No. 15 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25, released Monday, Nov. 23 ... Washburn has been ranked in every poll this season and was No. 15 in last week's AVCA release ... Dating back to 2003, the Ichabods have been tabbed in 160 consecutive polls ... WU is one of 11 teams from the NCAA Central Region in the Top 25 ... Nine NCAA Central Region teams are in the Top 15 and five are inside the Top 10 ... 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 423-75 mark in his 14 seasons ... at four-year colleges, Herron is now 498-104 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 2-2 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 seven 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 the season, but was dealt a loss in the final game of the opening month ... 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.