TOPEKA, Kan. ---- The 15th-ranked Washburn volleyball returns to MIAA action this weekend with a pair of matches in Missouri. The Ichabods, who are 17-4 on the season with a league mark of 7-1, open the weekend slate of matches against No. 17 Northwest Missouri State on Friday before facing Missouri Western State on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
ICHABOD VOLLEYBALL STORYLINES
• The Ichabods look to extend winning streak.
• Friday's match against Northwest Missouri will be the 66th meeting ... WU leads the all-time series 46-19 with a 17-7 mark when playing NWMSU on the road ... Ichabods have a 12-match win streak against the Bearcats.
• Saturday's match against Missouri Western will be the 83rd meeting all-time ... WU trails the series 38-45 ... Ichabods are 14-11 when playing at MWSU and have won nine of 11 matches since 2010.
• The Washburn volleyball program has gone 982-766 all-time and in NCAA play.
• Ichabods swept Maryville 3-0 in non-conference play.
• Washburn is tied for first in the MIAA standings with UNK ... both teams are 7-1 in league play.
• The Ichabods sit atop MIAA in in digs per set ... also ranked in top three in team digs (2nd/1,255), assists per set (3, 12.60), kills (3rd/962) and kills per set (3rd/13.74).
• Alyssa Carney leads the MIAA in total digs (392) and digs per set (5.37)... on Sept. 17 she tallied 37 digs in a match against Northwestern Oklahoma State to set a Washburn single-match record surpassing Erica Cowhick's 34 dig performances in Oct. 2006 and 2007
• Nationally, Carney is ranked 9th in digs and 24th in digs per set this season ... her 1,762 career digs lands her 14th on the Division II active career lists and currently has her listed 40th all-time.
• Sarah Vicory is ranked among the top 10 in four MIAA catergoies including hitting percentage (3rd/.400) and kills per set (9th/3.04), points per set (8th/3.61) and seventh in total kills (213) .... she is ranked 15th in Division II for hitting percentage.
• Vicory's career hitting percentage of .353 is 7th-overall on the Division II active career list.
• Leanna Willer leads the MIAA in service aces (26) and attacks per set (10.64) and is ranked fourth in in kills (257) and kills per set (3.52) and 11th in digs ... she is also ranked among the top 100 nationally for total attacks (13th), total kills (29th) and points per set (76th/4.07) ... Willer's 1,470 kills are 8th-best in the Division II career active chart and 25th all-time ... her 4,343 total attempts is third-best among active career leaders and 9th on the all-time list.
• Natalie Bates is sixth in the conference in assists (611) and eighth in assists per set (8.49) ... Bates' numbers also nationally-recognized as she sits 81st-overall in assists and 149th in assists per set.
• On Tuesday, Oct. 4 Willer set a WU single-match record for most swings (85) surpassing previous mark of 76 held by Dani McHenry and Tessa Jones.
HITTING THEIR STRIDE
• Under Chris Herron, WU has a history of hitting its stride in the month of October with a record of 69-7 since 2010.
• All-time under Herron, Washburn is 158-22 in October.
• The Ichabods have lost no more than four games in October since Herron's arrival … this season the Ichabods have won 51 of 65 sets played.
RECORD CHART WATCH
• Senior outside hitter Leanna Willer sits at 1,481 kills at Washburn which ranks seventh on the all-time chart … she needs 10 more to move into sixth on the all-time list … in her three full seasons at Washburn, Willer has averaged 408 kills a season (377 as a freshman, 383 as a sophomore and 464 as a junior) which would put her around 1,632 which would be third all-time at Washburn.
• Senior outside hitter Vicory surpassed the 1,000-kill plateau during the MIAA/GAC Crossover slate of games to become the 20th player in program-history to join the 1,000 kill club ... the milestone was reached on Friday, Spet. 16 against host Oklahoma Baptist ... she is now ranked 35th in NCAA Division II active careers ... Vicory's .350 hitting percent ranks second all-time at Washburn entering her final season as an Ichabod … Mollie Lacy (2008-11) recorded a .365 hitting percentage to sit on top of the all-time chart … Vicory's 403 total blocks are sixth all-time at Washburn ... she needs 28 more blocks to move into the top 5... on Friday, Oct. 7, Vicory become just the third Ichabod in school-history to have at least 1,000 kills and 400 blocks.
• Senior setter Natalie Bates surpassed both the 1,700 and 1,800-assist milestone during the week of Oct. 3 and she record back-to back 50-plus performances ... Bates' 1,853 career helpers is currently ninth-best on the Washburn all-time list ... she needs 367 more to move past Julie Sackman's mark of 2,220.
THE OTHER TEAMS
• Northwest Missouri is 18-1 overall, 6-1 in the MIAA ... Missouri Western is 12-7 with 4-3 mark in MIAA ... NWMSU is tied for third in MIAA standings and ranked No.17 in AVCA Division II poll ... MWSU is 5th.
• Stat leaders for NWMSU, Maddy Bruder (271 kills), Alexis Williams (70 blks) and Olivia Nowakowski (295 digs).
• Rachel Friedrichs leads MWSU in kills (203) and blocks (54) with Kayla Ruff has 273 digs.
LAST TIME OUT
TOPEKA, Kan. --- The Washburn volleyball team rolled to its seventh-straight victory Tuesday as it downed Maryville in consecutive sets by the score of 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-15).
The Ichabods were led by Makayla Maxwell and Leanna Willer as each finished with 11 kills apiece. Maxwell also posted a .450 hitting percentage while Willer had a team-best 11 digs. Natalie Bates tallied 27 assists and 10 digs. Also contributing in the effort was Carley Swan and Kelsey Barrick each with five kills, while Taylor Selk, Erica Montgomery and Balie Stamps combined for eight.
During the match Washburn (17-4) held the Saints to sub .100 hitting in each set, while it averaged a hitting mark of .293. The Ichabods also outscored Maryville (2-17) in service aces with 8-0.
With the first set tied 12-12, WU imposed its will as Swan's back-to-back kills allowed Washburn to score eight of the next nine and take a comfortable 20-13 lead. The Saints scored twice more but it was not enough as the Ichabods won the frame 25-16.
In the second set, the Ichabods overpowered MU en route to a 25-12 result and they led from the beginning and were able to string together three and four-point spurts while capitalizing on errors by the Saints.
After trailing 1-0 to start the third, Washburn assumed the lead as it scored six of the next seven to make it 6-2. The Ichabods stretched the lead to as much as seven until a late push by Maryville made it 17-13. The Saints effort was not enough however as the Ichabods pulled away conceding just two points the rest of the way.
ABOUT COACH HERRON
• is in his 15th season at Washburn.
• has gone 442-82 at Washburn.
• has gone 205-45 in MIAA matches.
• as a college coach he is 517-111 in his 18th season.
• has been named the MIAA Coach of the Year following the 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2011 seasons.
• has led the Ichabods to five MIAA regular season championships.
• has led the Ichabods to 13 NCAA postseason berths.
• his players have received 29 All-America awards, 66 all-region awards and has had 25 first team all-MIAA selections.
• his players have received 29 All-America awards, 66 all-region awards and has had 25 first team all-MIAA selections and 82 overall who have been honored as all-conference.
• has coached four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, six CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, six MIAA Academic Excellence award winners (4.00 GPA), 29 MIAA Scholar Athletes (3.50+ GPA and all-MIAA honoree) and 121 MIAA Academic Honor Roll (3.00+ GPA) selections.
AVCA NATIONAL POLL NOTES
• Washburn has been ranked in the AVCA poll 188 times in program history which is 15th all-time in Division II history.
• The Ichabods' highest ranking was No. 2 on Oct. 18, 2010.
• Washburn has been ranked in the top 10 114 times, which is ninth all-time among NCAA Division II schools.
• Under Chris Herron, the Ichabods have been ranked in the top 10 111 times - all but one time in school history have come under Herron's leadership.
MIAA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
• Washburn volleyball was picked first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released Thursday, Aug. 11 by the conference office. Washburn received five first place votes and 110 total points, earning the top nod for the first time since 2012. Washburn finished the 2015 season at 28-6.
WINNING
• The Ichabods have made a habit out of appearing in the NCAA, reaching that milestone the past 12 years and 13 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 ninth-straight year in Sarah Vicory and Leanna Willer, two of 29 all-time All-Americans at Washburn.
UP NEXT
• Washburn will continue its road swing next weekend when it travels to take om Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma.
