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EMPORIA, Kan. - In an epic battle at Emporia State Saturday night, the fourth-ranked Lady Blues had to score 35 points in the fourth set to clinch a 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 35-33) victory and their second straight MIAA title.
Washburn finished its regular season at 30-2 and 17-1 in the MIAA. Central Missouri also won Saturday to finish 17-1 and the two will share the title. The Lady Blues will await Sunday's 9 p.m. NCAA announcement on their tournament seed. They have been the South Central Region No. 1 team in every ranking this year. The NCAA tournament begins Thursday with the first three rounds played at the site of the No. 1 team in each region. Washburn last hosted a regional in 2002.
Emporia State got to set point at 24-22 in the fourth set looking to force a fifth.
Breanna Lewis and then Fey followed with kills to tie it at 24-24 and then
Kelsey Lewis had an ace to give the Lady Blues set point. There were nine ties after that before
Jessica Kopp set down two straight kills to clinch the match and Washburn's secone straight MIAA title. Washburn also won MIAA titles in 2002 and 2005.
Breanna Lewis led the Lady Blues with 19 kills and hit .310 and
Jessica Fey had a career-high 17 kills and 10 digs for a double-double, the third of her career. They and
Mollie Lacy each had five blocks.
Hillary Hughes had a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs and
Jessica Kopp had 10 kills.
Abby Wittman set for Washburn the entire match and had a career-high 62 assists and added 15 digs for a double-double. The Washburn defense dug up 100 ESU attacks and had five players get double-figure digs.
Kelsey Lewis led with 23.
The Lady Blues hit .176 in the match and ESU edged them with a .177 attack. Washburn won in kills, 71-59, and the two were even in blocks at 13 each. There were 43 ties and 14 lead changes in the match.
The Lady Blues fought off set point four times and held it themselves twice before Kopp's clinchers. Paige Vanderpool's kill for the Hornets gave them a 27-26 advantage and then her attack error on the next point tied it again. Fey and then Lacy followed with kills that gave Washburn a 29-28 advantage but Courtney Haring and Vanderpool followed with kills to give the Hornets advantage. That was their last lead of the night.
Washburn opened the first set on a 5-0 run with
Breanna Lewis scoring two kills. Emporia State never rebounded in that set. The Hornets managed a 5-0 run to pull within one at 16-15 but got no closer.
The second set saw eight ties before either team got to 10 points. There were 13 ties in all and the Lady Blues didn't lead until a 5-0 run gave them a 19-15 lead. ESU later got within one at 23-22 but kills from Fey and Lacy ended it to give WU a 2-0 set lead.
The Hornets hit .375 in the third set while the Lady Blues were kept to a .120 percentage. Despite the difference, there were still seven ties and the Hornets weren't able to pull away until a 4-0 run gave them an 18-14 lead. They ended the set scoring six of the last seven points, the last three on WU errors.
Haring led ESU with 14 kills and hit .462 while Brianna Kaiser had 13 kills and 19 digs. Vanderpool also had a double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs.
The Lady Blues will be looking for their eighth straight trip to the NCAA tournament and ninth overall. They have gone every year since 2004 and also went in 2002. Washburn also guaranteed its fifth straight 30-win season. Emporia State finished 21-10 and 13-5 in the MIAA.
