Box Score | Season Stats | Photos

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The No. 2 seed Washburn Lady Blues recovered from a set one loss to down seventh-seeded Nebraska-Omaha 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-22) in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional hosted by Central Missouri. Washburn (33-4) advances to play the No. 3 seed West Texas A&M (35-3) in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m.

Nebraska-Omaha (20-14) jumped out to a 14-6 lead early in set one. The lead was seven at 18-11, when the Lady Blues went on an 11-4 run to knot the score at 22. A service error by Washburn gave UNO the lead and they took set one 25-23.

The Lady Blues were leading 12-10 in the second set, but tied the game at a set apiece with a 13-6 run to end it. Set three was all Lady Blues as they raced out to a 10-2 lead, scoring nine straight points in the process. The Mavericks closed to within five at 12-7, but Washburn took a two sets to one lead with a 13-7 set-ending run.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle through the early going. The stanza was tied at 10-all when Washburn scored four straight points to seize control. Nebraska-Omaha got to within a point at 16-15, but another 4-0 run put WU up 20-15 and they closed out the set and the match at 25-22.

Mollie Lacy led four Washburn players in double-figure kills with 16. Jessica Fey added 13, while Hillary Hughes and Breanna Lewis chipped in 10 each. Hughes also added 17 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.

Libero Molly Smith recorded a career-high 40 digs in the match, while Kate Hampson recorded her 16th double-double of the season and 54th of her career with 48 assists and 14 digs.

The 40 digs tie Smith for the fourth most digs in a single-game in school history and the third most digs in a four-set match. They also give her 569 digs on the season, which is eighth most in a season and move her into 10th place on the career digs list with 1,423

Kelli Goeser led UNO with 14 kills, while Sara Kampschnieder added 13.