TOPEKA, Kan. --- After spending the last two weekends on the road, the No. 14 Washburn Ichabod volleyball team returns to the friendly confines of Schendel Court at Lee Arena for a pair of MIAA matches as it faces No. 16 Northwest Missouri State (21-9, 9-2 MIAA) on Friday before playing host to Missouri Western State (14-9, 6-5 MIAA) on Saturday. Friday's match against the Bearcats will also be Ichabods' annual Pink Out Night to honor breast cancer survivors and continue the fight against breast cancer.
ICHABOD VOLLEYBALL STORYLINE
• Washburn looks to rebound from loss.
• Friday's match is the annual Washburn Volleyball Pink Out Night to help with the fight against breast cancer.
• The Ichabods face NW Missouri second time this season ... WU has a 47-19 record all-time ... Ichabods won the first meeting 3-0 at NWMSU.
• Washburn and Missouri Western for the second time this season ... WU won the first match 3-0 ... Washburn trails the all-time series 39-45.
• Washburn has a combined record of 43-10 at Lee Arena when hosting NWMSU and MWSU.
• The Washburn volleyball program has gone 985-767 all-time and in NCAA play.
• Ichabods went 1-1 last weekend as they defeated Pittsburg State (3-2) and loss to No. 11 Central Oklahoma (3-0).
• Washburn is second-overall in the MIAA standings with a 10-2 record.
• The Ichabods sit atop MIAA in in digs per set (17.69) ... also ranked in top three in team digs (2nd/1,574) opponent hitting percentage (3rd/.130), and team kills (3rd/1,191).
• Alyssa Carney leads the MIAA in total digs (465) and digs per set (5.22)... 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 20th in digs and 41th in digs per set this season ... her 1,843 career digs has her 14th on the Division II active career lists and currently has her listed 40th all-time.
• Carney is averaging 20.50 digs in the last five matches at a per set rate of 4.64.
• Sarah Vicory is ranked among the top 10 in hitting percentage (3rd/.390), total kills (8th/250), points per set (9th/3.60) and total blocks (8th/80) .... she is ranked 11th in Division II for hitting percentage.
• Vicory's career hitting percentage of .352 is seventh-overall on the Division II active career list, while her 425 career blocks is 6th-best.
• In the last five matches Vicory has a .396 hitting percentage and 24 total blocks with a per set rate of 1.26.
• Leanna Willer leads the MIAA in service aces (30), attacks (1,024) and attacks per set (11.51) and is also among the top five in total kills (2rd/334), kills per set (4th/3.75) and points per set (4th/4.29) ... she is also ranked among the top 25 nationally for total attacks (8th), total kills (22th) and attacks per set (24th) ... Willer's 1,558 career kills are seventh-best in the Division II career active chart and 20th all-time ... her 4,618 swings is third-best among active careers and seventh on the all-time list.
• In the last five outings, Willer has amassed 94 kills and 76 digs ... averaging 18.80 kills and 15.20 digs per match with per set numbers of 4.27 and 3.45 respectively.
• Natalie Bates is fifth in the conference in assists (758) and eighth in assists per set (8.61) ... Bates' numbers are also nationally-recognized as she sits 83th-overall in assists and 147th in assists per set.
HITTING THEIR STRIDE
• Under Chris Herron, WU has a history of hitting its stride in the month of October with a record of 72-8 since 2010.
• All-time under Herron, Washburn is 161-23 in October.
• The Ichabods have lost no more than four games in October since Herron's arrival … this season the Ichabods have won 60 of 81 sets played.
RECORD CHART WATCH
• Senior outside hitter Leanna Willer sits at 1,558 kills at Washburn for fourth on the all-time chart … she needs just 17 more to move into third 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 ... Willer entered the top five on Oct. 15 while at Missouri Western.
• Senior outside hitter Sarah 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 ... she is now ranked 36th in NCAA Division II active careers ... entering her final season with a .350 hitting percentage Vicory ranks second all-time at Washburn … Mollie Lacy (2008-11) recorded a .365 hitting percentage to sit on top of the all-time chart … Vicory's 425 total blocks are sixth all-time at Washburn ... she needs six more blocks to move into the top 5... on 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 with back-to back performances of 50-plus assists ... Bates' 2,000 career helpers is currently ninth-best on the Washburn all-time list ... she needs 221 more for eighth on the Washburn all-time list.
• Senior libero Alyssa Carney sits at 1,619 digs for her Washburn career for fifth on the all-time chart ... Carney surpassed the 1,600 dig milestone on Oct. 23 against Central Oklahoma ... she needs 14 more to elevate her to fourth on the all-time list.
THE OTHER TEAM
• Northwest Missouri is ranked 16th in the AVCA poll ... begin the week 9-2 in the MIAA and 21-2 overall ... Bearcats are tied for third with Central Oklahoma in the conference standings.
• NWMSU stat leaders: Kills, Maddy Bruder (327); Assists, Sarah Dannettell (863); Digs, Oliva Nowakowski (376); Blocks, Alexis Williams (87).
• Missouri Western is ranked ___ in the AVCA poll ... begin the week 14-9 overall and 6-5 in league play ... Griffons are tied with Central Missouri for fifth in the conference standings.
• MWSU stat leaders: Kills, Rachel Friedrichs (245); Assists, Kortney Blaufauss (693); Digs, Kayla Ruff (342); Blocks, Rachel Friedrichs (63).
LAST TIME OUT
EDMOND, Okla. ---- The No. 14 Washburn volleyball team fell to No.11 Central Oklahoma in MIAA action on Saturday evening by the score of 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) ... the Ichabods slipped to 10-2 in the conference, 20-5 overall and saw the end of their 10-match win streak ... Leanna Willer led the Ichabods with a team-high 17 kills ... Sarah Vicory had six kills and Kelsey Barrick with five ... Erica Montgomery and Taylor Selk contributed with four kills each ... Alyssa Carney recorded a match-high 22 digs and surpassed 1,600 total digs for her Washburn career ... Trailing 3-2 early in the opening set, Washburn tallied six of the next seven points to take an 8-4 lead. The Ichabods remained in controlled and pushed the score to 16-12 but were unable to create more than a four-point cushion. In spite of hitting .389 in the first set, the opener got away from the Ichabods as Central Oklahoma (23-2, 9-2 MIAA) tied the set at 19-19 with a 7-3 run before completing the rally posting six of the final nine points to claim a 1-0 match lead ... In the second set the Washburn offense had a hard time finding its rhythm as it conceded seven attack errors and had a match-low .057 hitting percentage. As a result, the Bronchos capitalized the Ichabods' misfortunes moving out front early and never letting go. Midway through the set, down 10-5, Washburn went on a 5-2 scoring spurt cutting the UCO advantage to 12-10 but effort was not enough as that was the closest it came to the Bronchos ... UCO rattled off four consecutive points to take an 8-5 lead and control the third set ... A late push by the Ichabods trimmed the gap to four but the Bronchos managed to hold off WU to complete the sweep.
ABOUT COACH HERRON
• is in his 15th season at Washburn.
• has gone 445-83 at Washburn.
• has gone 208-46 in MIAA matches.
• as a college coach he is 520-112 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 190 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
• The Ichabods wrap up their road schedule for the season with a trips to Lindenwood (Nov. 4) and Central Missouri (Nov. 5.) Both matches slated for 7 p.m.
