TOPEKA, Kan. --- The No. 13-ranked Washburn volleyball team prepares to wrap up its road schedule this weekend with a return visit to the Show Me State, as it faces Lindenwood on Friday and No. 16 Central on Saturday. Washburn heads into the pair of matches with season total of 22-5 and a 12-5 mark against conference foes. Friday's match with the Lions is set for a 7 p.m. start, while first served against the Jennies at 3 p.m.
ICHABOD VOLLEY STORYLINES
• Washburn looks to continue winning form.
• The Ichabods face Lindewood for the first time this season ... WU has a 5-0 record all-time against the Lions ... the time the teams met was Nov. 6, 2015 at Lee Arena - Ichabods won 3-0.
• Washburn face Central Missouri for first this season season ... Washburn trails the all-time series 14-51 ... the last time the teams met was Nov. 7, 2015 at Lee Arena - Icahbods were swept 3-0.
• The Washburn volleyball program has gone 987-767 all-time and in NCAA play.
• Ichabods went 2-0 last weekend as they downed then-No. 16 Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western in three sets.
• Washburn clinched a berth into the 2016 MIAA Volleyball tournament last Friday with a win against NWMSU ... the Ichabods are tied for second in the conference standings with Central Oklahoma at 12-2.
• The Ichabods sit atop MIAA in in digs per set (17.64) and team attacks per set (37.44) ... also ranked in top three in team digs (3nd/1,676), opponent hitting percentage (3rd/.129), and team kills (3rd/1,275).
• Alyssa Carney leads the MIAA in digs per set (5.25) and is second in total digs with 499... 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 30th in digs and 39th in digs per set this season ... her 1,877 career digs has her 14th on the Division II active career lists and currently has her listed 43rd all-time.
• Carney is averaging 18.20 digs in the last five matches at a per set rate of 5.35.
• Sarah Vicory is ranked among the top 10 in six categories including blocks/set (9th/0.92), hitting percentage (3rd/.391), kills/set (10th/2.87), total kills (9th/264), points per set (9th/3.49) and total blocks (7th/85) .... she is ranked 9th in Division II for hitting percentage.
• Vicory's career marks have listed sixth-overall among the Division II career leaders in hitting percentage (.353) and career blocks (430).
• In the last five matches Vicory has a .349 hitting percentage and 21 total blocks ... she is also averaging 2.29 kills/set.
• Leanna Willer leads the MIAA in attacks (1,024) and attacks per set (11.51) and is also among the top five in total kills (2rd/361), kills per set (4th/3.80) and points per set (4th/4.31) ... she is also ranked among the top 30 nationally for total attacks (12th), total kills (26th) and attacks per set (21th) ... Willer's 1,585 career kills are seventh-best in the Division II career active chart and 22th all-time ... her 4,695 swings is third-best among active careers and seventh on the all-time list.
• In the last five outings, Willer has amassed 79 kills and 56 digs ... averaging 15.80 kills and 11.20 digs per match with per set numbers of 4.65 and 3.29 respectively.
• Natalie Bates is fifth in the conference in assists (815) and eighth in assists per set (8.67) ... Bates' numbers are also nationally-recognized as she sits 146th-overall in assists and 98th in assists per set ... In the last five outings, Bates has racked up 160 assists, averaging 9.41 per set ... the senior setter also has 48 digs in that time.
Hitting their stride
• Under Chris Herron, WU has a history of hitting its stride in the month of October with a record of 74-8 since 2010.
• All-time under Herron, Washburn is 163-23 in October.
• The Ichabods have lost no more than four games in October since Herron's arrival … this season the Ichabods have won 66 of 87 sets played.
RECORD CHART WATCH
• Senior outside hitter Leanna Willer sits at 1,585 kills at Washburn for third on the all-time chart … she needs just 73 more to move into second on the all-time … 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 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 430 total blocks are sixth all-time at Washburn ... she needs two more blocks for sole possesion of fifth ... 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' 2,057 career helpers is currently ninth-best on the Washburn all-time list ... she needs 164 more for eighth on the Washburn all-time list.
• Senior libero Alyssa Carney sits at 1,648 digs for her Washburn career for fourth on the all-time chart ... Carney surpassed the 1,600 dig milestone on Oct. 23 against Central Oklahoma ... she needs 209 move into third on the all-time list.
THE OTHER TEAMS
• Lindenwood is 11-14 on the season and 5-8 in MIAA ... Lions are coming off a 3-0 win against Missouri-St. Louis.
• LWU stat leaders: Kills, Jessica Krygsheld (228); Assists, Allyson Clancy (841); Digs, Jessica Krygsheld (216); Blocks, Alex Bogusz (74).
• Central Missouri is 18-8 on the season and 7-6 in MIAA ... the Jennies are ranked No. 16 in the AVCA poll ... UCM have wins in each of its last two matches.
• UCM stat leaders: Kills, Cheyanne Lyons (215); Assists, Kourtney Thompson (674); Digs, Kylie Hohlen (334); Blocks, Molly Lawrence (50)
LAST TIME OUT
TOPEKA, Kan. --- For the second consecutive night, the No. 14 Washburn volleyball team played the minimum as it swept Missouri Western 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) Saturday evening at Schendel Court at Lee Arena. With the result, the Ichabods moved their season total to 22-5 and 12-2 against conference opponents.
Washburn's attack was paced by Leanna Willer who finished with 14 kills. Taylor Selk and Makayla Maxwell followed with seven kills each. Sarah Vicory and Kelsey Barrick combined for 12. Alyssa Carney had team-best 16 digs while Callie Lowry finished with eight.
After a back-and-forth exchange to start the first set the sides settled at a 6-5 Griffons lead. The advantage was the last time the Missouri Western led during the frame as the Ichabods picked up three of their next four points thanks to errors to make it 9-6. MWSU leveled the score at 14-14 until came back with five unanswered pushing the score to 19-14. The Griffons stayed close down the stretch but the effort was not enough as WU tallied four of the last five set points to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, Washburn sprinted out front to an 11-3 margin as MWSU conceded five errors during the run. From then on the Ichabods never looked back pushing the score to 19-10. Missouri Western responded with three-straight tallies to start a 12-5 run and slicing the WU margin to 24-22. The late push though was spoiled by Megan Pedersen as she sealed the set for the Ichabods and them a 2-0 lead.
Trailing twice early into the third set, Washburn powered past Missouri Western for the final time of the contest as back-to-back kills from Maxwell and Vicory were part of a 4-0 spurt helping the Ichabods take a 9-3 lead. Washburn eventually put the match out of reach as it sustained long scoring runs and accounted five the 14 errors during the set. The Ichabods completed the sweep by scoring the five of the final seven points.
ABOUT COACH HERRON
• is in his 15th season at Washburn.
• has gone 447-83 at Washburn.
• has gone 210-46 in MIAA matches.
• as a college coach he is 522-112 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 191 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 conlcudes its regular season next week when it faces Pittsburg State on Nov. 11 and Central Oklahoma on Nov. 12.
