Scouting the Opponent
Washburn hits the road for three matches this week, taking on Southwest Baptist (Bolivar, Mo.), Missouri Southern (Joplin, Mo.) in MIAA matches and Arkansas-Monticello (Bolivar, Mo.) in a non-conference, neutral site match ... WU plays the Bearcats on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. ... The Ichabods take on MSSU on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m., followed by a 3 p.m., contest against UAM ... SBU (2-10, 0-2 MIAA) dropped its lone contest against a common opponent to Washburn, falling 3-0 to Augustana earlier this season ... MSSU (0-12, 0-2 MIAA) is still searching for its first win on the season, going 0-6 against common opponents with Washburn this season ... MSSU competed at the Washburn Invitational in the opening weekend of play ... UAM (6-4, 1-2 GAC) has faced just one common opponent to WU, dropping a 3-0 contest to Harding in GAC play ... The Cotton Blossoms are the second to last non-conference opponent for the Ichabods remaining in 2015 ... More information on series and stat leaders can be found on page one of the game notes.
 
Last Time Out
Previously ranked seventh, Washburn suffered its first loss of the season against Fort Hays State, falling 3-0 (27-25, 28-26, 27-25) at home ... Leanna Willer led the team with 17 kills and 11 digs, while Sarah Vicory had 10 kills and two blocks ... Defensively, Willer joined by Alyssa Carney (20 digs), Korie Thompson (15 digs) and Liz Powell (15 digs) in double digit digs, with Powell adding 43 assists at setter ... Taylor Selk was third on the team with nine kills for the match, followed by Thompson's eight kills.
 
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 ... The Auburn, Kan., native is now averaging 5.38 digs per set for the season, which is second in the MIAA.
 
Milestone Watch
Leanna Willer is closing in on 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for her career, looking to become the 19th member of the 1,000 kills club and the ninth member of the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club at Washburn ... Willer has 975 kills in her three-year career thus far, and will look to pass the 1,000 mark this weekend over three matches ... Additionally, the junior outside hitter has just 134 digs to go to hit 1,000 and is averaging 3.28 digs per set on the year.
 
National Leaders
Washburn ranks among the national leaders in several statistical categories, both as a team and individually.  Those lists include:
Team Attacks Per Set 2nd (40.45)
Team Digs Per Set 4th (19.65)
W-L Percentage 6th (0.929)
Team Total Digs 9th (1,002)
Team Total Blocks 9th (127
Team Total Assists 12th (655)
Team Total Kills 13th (655)
Team Blocks Per Set 16th (2.49)
Total Blocks Sarah Vicory, 3rd (70)
Total Attacks Leanna Willer, 10th (612)
Attacks Per Set Leanna Willer, 11th (12.24)
Total Kills Leanna Willer, 12th (215)
Kills Per Set Leanna Willer, 13th (4.3)
Blocks Per Set Sarah Vicory, 13th (1.37)
Points Per Set Leanna Willer, 15th (4.79)
Total Digs Alyssa Carney, 25th (269)
 
MIAA Leaders (as of Oct. 1)
Several Ichabods rank in the top five of MIAA statistical categories, including Sarah Vicory, who leads the conference in total blocks (70) and blocks per set (1.37) and Leanna Willer, who leads the MIAA in kills per set (4.30) ... Willer is also second in the MIAA in total kills (215) ... Alyssa Carney is second in total digs (269) and digs per set (5.38) ... Carley Swan is fourth in blocks per set (1.00) and third in total blocks (46) ... Liz Powell is fifth in total assists (489) ...
 
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 1-0 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 slipped five spots to No. 12 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll this week, pulling in with 689 points and one first-place vote ... Last week's rankings had WU slotted seventh with 896 points ...  Nebraska-Kearney dropped to No. 16 in the poll and is one of three other MIAA schools to join WU in the Top 25. Central Missouri fell from No. 6 to No. 13, while Central Oklahoma continued its rise and is now 14th ... Missouri Western received three votes ... Including the five MIAA schools, the NCAA Central Region has 15 teams mentioned in the AVCA rankings (and 12 in the Top 25) ... Washburn has been ranked in 152 consecutive AVCA polls dating back to 2003
  
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 405-72 mark in his 14 seasons, good enough for a .849 winning percentage ... at four-year colleges, Herron is now 480-101 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 57-19 against its 2015 non-conference opponents, combined (and including 2015 non-conference games thus far) ... Against non-conference opponents remaining this weekend (Arkansas-Monticello and Maryville), the Ichabods are 2-0 combined ... 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.
 
Early Success
Under Chris Herron, WU has started 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 ... a more complete breakdown of the Ichabods' month-by-month success under Herron can be found on page five of the game notes.