Ichabod Volleyball Storylines
•    The No. 16-ranked Washburn Ichabod volleyball team opens the 2016 season when they will play host to the Washburn Invitational presented by the Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center Sept. 2-3 in Lee Arena.
•    Washburn will face Quincy and Midwestern State on day one and wrap up the even with Mary and Drury on day two.
•    Other teams in Topeka for the weekend will be Emporia State, Pittsburg State and Missouri Western from the MIAA; Mary from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference; Midwestern State from the Lone Star Conference and Drury and Quincy from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
•    Washburn is 32-0 in the Washburn Invitational  
•    Other teams record in the eight-year history of the event include: Emporia State (23-9), Drury (3-1), Midwestern State (1-3), Missouri Western (5-7), Pittsburg State (1-7). Quincy and Mary are making their first appearances in Topeka. 
•    Washburn returns 11 lettermen from last season's 28-6 team which reached the NCAA postseason for the 12th-straight season and for 13 of the last 14 seasons.
•    The Ichabods are 14-0 in season openers under head coach Chris Herron.
•    All-time the Ichabods are 33-14 in season openers and dating back to 1989 when the Ichabods joined the NCAA ranks and the MIAA, Washburn has gone 22-5 in its first match of the season.

 Hot starts
•    Under Chris Herron, WU has a history of starting the season hot in the first month of play, including an going 26-2 over the last two season.
•    All-time under Herron, Washburn is 211-25 in the first month of the season.
•    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 six years (since 2010), Washburn has gone 79-8 in the first month of the season.

 Quick starts
•    In 2015, Washburn was 20-1 when winning the first set … the Ichabods lost the first set 12 times in 2015 and finished 8-4 in those matches … the only loss when winning the first set came in the regular season finale at Central Oklahoma.

 Record chart watch
•    Senior outside hitter Leanna Willer sits at 1,224 kills at Washburn which rank 12th on the all-time chart … she needs 31 to move into 11th all-time and to move into the top 10 she needs 86 … in three 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 middle hitter Sarah Vicory has record 890 kills needing 110 more to become the 20th member of the 1,000 kill club at Washburn … Vicory's .342 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 345 total blocks are 13th all-time at Washburn needing 19 more to more into the top 10.
•    Senior setter Natalie Bates is 14th on the all-time assist chart with 1,242 …to move into the top 10 she needs 272 additional assists.
•    Senior libero Alyssa Carney has 1,149 career digs which is 19th all-time at Washburn recording that total in two years …her 5.22 digs per set are second all-time at Washburn trailing Erica Cowhick's 5.51 digs per set from 2004-07.
 
 Washburn Invitational opponents
•    Quincy
    Washburn leads the series 4-0 over Quincy … the team have not met since a 3-0 win by the Ichabods on Sept. 6, 2008 in a 3-0 win at the Missouri-St. Louis Invitational … Herron is 2-0 against Quincy.
•    Midwestern State
    Washburn leads the series 3-0 over Midwestern State … the team have not met since a 3-0 win by the Ichabods on Sept. 3, 2011 in Wichita Falls … Herron is 3-0 against Midwestern State.
•    Mary
    The two teams have never met.
•    Drury
    Washburn leads the all-time series 10-8 … the Ichabods have won the last five meetings in the series including a 3-2 win over the Panthers on Sept. 5, 2015 in the Washburn Invitational taking the fifth game 15-11 … Herron is 4-0 against Drury.

 Last time out
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sixth-seeded Washburn Volleyball saw its 2015 season come to an end in the NCAA Central Region Quarterfinals on Thursday, Dec. 3, dropping a 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13) match against third-seeded Southwest Minnesota State. SMSU took the first set, 25-16, despite Washburn allowing just one run of four unanswered in the set.  Down three (8-5) after a kill from Sarah Vicory, that string of four straight for the Mustangs put WU behind, 12-5, and the Ichabods couldn't recover.  Later on, down nine (23-12), WU ran off two straight to force a SMSU timeout, but the momentum couldn't sustain a long run as WU fell behind in the match, 1-0.
Trailing 11-7 in the second, WU called a timeout before rallying to tie it, 11-11 behind a four-point burst, but saw SMSU answer with a 4-0 run of its own that WU struggled to come back from.  After a timeout down 21-15, WU did cut the lead to six three more times in the set, but that was as close as things came in a 25-18 loss.
Needing a win to extend the match in the third, Washburn again hung tough early but couldn't slow a hot-hitting Mustangs offense, falling 25-13 in the third.
Natalie Bates had WU's only double-double for the day, tallying 12 digs (second on the team) with a team-high 12 assists, while Korie Thompson just missed a double-double in her final game as an Ichabod, finishing with 13 digs and nine kills on the day. 
Sarah Vicory finished with four blocks (one solo) and five kills while Alyssa Carney had eight digs at libero.
The 2015 season closes as the 13th 25-plus win season for Washburn under Chris Herron.
 
 About Coach Herron
•    is in his 15th season at Washburn.
•    has gone 425-78 at Washburn.
•    has gone 197-44 in MIAA matches.
•    as a college coach he is 500-107 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.

 MIAA preseason coaches poll
•    Washburn Volleyball was picked first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released Thursday, August 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 will return to action at the Palm Beach Atlantic Tournament Sept. 9-10 in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Ichabods will face No. 8-ranked Ferris State, Florida Tech, Embry-Riddle and No. 3-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic, who was the national runner-up in 2015.