Box Score | Season Stats | Photos

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The ninth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues outlasted the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-7) on Tuesday night at Lee Arena. Washburn will be back in action on Friday night for a top-10 showdown at No. 7-ranked Central Missouri at 7 p.m. in Warrensburg.

The Lady Blues (11-1, 3-1 MIAA) raced out to a 7-0 lead in set one and never looked back. Washburn pushed the lead to as many as 10 and Hillary Hughes finished off the set win with an ace.

Nebraska-Omaha (8-4, 1-3 MIAA) took an early lead in set two before Washburn battled back to tie the set at 22-all. The Lady Blues took a 23-22 lead, but UNO tallied three straight points to tie the match at one set apiece.

WU again built a big lead in set three only to see the Mavericks rally to pull within two at 22-20, but kills by Mollie Lacy and Jessica Kopp sealed the set win at 25-22. The fourth set was another back-and-forth affair that saw eight ties and three lead changes, the final coming when UNO took a 24-23 and then closed out the set to tie the match at two-all.

The Lady Blues jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the fifth and deciding set only to see UNO score two straight points to tie the set. A 7-1 run by Washburn gave the Lady Blues a 10-4 lead and they finished off the match from there with a Hughes ace claiming match point.

Hughes led Washburn with 13 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Kopp added 12 kills, while Lacy had 11 and Breanna Lewis chipped in 10. Amanda Guess tallied her fourth double-double of the year with 37 assists and 14 digs. Molly Smith had a match-high 25 digs for Washburn.

Natalie Ebke led the Mavericks with a game-high 17 kills and Kayla Uhing chipped in 12. Emily Myers had 41 assists, while Angie Reicks led four Mavericks in double-figures with 20 digs.