Box Score | Season Statistics | Postgame Press Conference | Tournament Website

Breanna Lewis and Jessica Kopp reached double figures in kills as Washburn cruised to a 25-14, 25-15, 25-21 win over Arkansas Tech in the first round of the NCAA South Central Region tournament. No. 5 Washburn (31-2), seeded second in the region, will play third-seeded West Texas A&M in a semifinal Friday at 5 p.m.

The Lady Blues, making their eighth straight trip to the NCAA tournament and ninth overall, won their third straight opening round match. They will play WTAMU for the second time in the NCAA tournament. The all-time series is tied at 2-2.

The loss ended ATU's season at 35-4 and ended an 18-match winning streak. The Lady Buffs will enter Friday's match also on an 18-match winning streak after a 3-1 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith in the first round Thursday.

Lewis had 12 kills and just two errors to hit .417 and Kopp had a .364 attack percentage with 10 kills and also two errors. Overall, Washburn hit .344 as a team behind setter Abby Wittman's 30 assists.

Washburn trailed in every set but bounced back strong each time. The Lady Blues hit .481 in the opening set with 13 kills and no errors in 27 attacks. Kopp led WU with four kills. She and Jessica Fey combined on a block to give WU a 16-9 lead and force a timeout. A service ace from Amanda Guess forced another ATU timeout at 19-10 and then Washburn later closed the set on a kill from Breanna Lewis.

Washburn finished with seven blocks with Lewis leading with four and Mollie Lacy getting a hand on three.

The Golden Suns jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set  but a block from Lacy and Lewis gave the Lady Blues a 4-3 lead. A 5-0 run later gave the Lady Blues a 17-9 lead with the last three points coming on ATU errors. A kill from Fey later clinched the set for WU.

The third set featured nine ties before anyone got to 10 points. A kill from Kopp completed a 6-0 run that made the score 14-9, Washburn. The Golden Suns got a kill from Kelly O'Malley and then Hillary Hughes answered to start a 5-0 Washburn run to make the score 17-9. ATU called a time out and scored two straight but was never able to get within seven as the Golden Suns fell short in their second NCAA tournament appearance.

A kill from Kopp gave WU a 23-15 lead and then an ATU error brought on match point. Fey's kill ended the match.

Kelsey Lewis led Washurn with 16 digs. Fey had seven kills with no errors to hit .700 and Hillary Hughes had seven kills and seven digs.

Laura Farney swung 27 times and led the Golden Suns with eight kills but she hit just .037 and Arkansas Tech hit .139 in the match.


Notes: Washburn improved to 4-2 all-time against the Golden Suns and head coach Chris Herron is 4-0 against them...Washburn is 10-8 all-time in the NCAA tournament and 6-3 in first round games...Herron has coached WU in all nine of its tournament apperances...Mollie Lacy is now hitting .366 in her career, keeping her in first in school history, 40 points ahead of second...Breanna Lewis is third in career history with a .324 attack...Jessica Kopp is hitting .232 in her last eight matches, 40 points better than her season average...she is averaging 2.70 kills a set during that stretch and has reached double figures five times.