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WARRENSBURG, Mo. -
Jessica Fey had a career high in kills and Kesley Lewis had a career high in digs as Washburn defeated West Texas A&M 25-20, 25-21, 25-21 Friday night in the semifinal of the NCAA South Central Region tournament.
The win sets up a rematch of last year's South Central Region final as Washburn will play top-seeded and host Central Missouri Saturday at 7 p.m. Washburn and UCM split their MIAA season series this year with each team winning at home. The seventh-ranked Jennies defeated Angelo State 3-1 Friday in their semifinal.
Fey had 18 kills with one error to hit .630 in the match. She had 14 kills and no errors after the first two sets. She topped her previous career best of 17 kills set last week as Washburn clinched the MIAA title at Emporia State.
Lewis had 27 digs to lead a defense that dug up 68 West Texas A&M attacks. Her previous high was 25 digs against Nebraska Omaha on October 15.
Hillary Hughes had 12 kills and eight digs. Washburn hit .281 as a team while the 13th-ranked Lady Buffs hit .211 in the match. Their loss ended an 18-match winning streak and ended their season at 33-3.
The Lady Buffs scored three straight to take a 12-9 lead in the third set and force a Washburn timeout. The two teams traded six straight points before Washburn went on a 4-0 run to take a 16-15 lead, all on Washburn kills with two coming from Fey.
The Lady Buffs later used a 3-0 run to go back up, 20-19 and then a kill from Hughes tied the set and started a 4-0 run that got the Lady Blues to match point at 24-20. A Washburn service error was followed by a WTAMU service error that ended the match.
Abby Wittman set the entire match for Washburn and had 41 assists. She added five kills, seven digs and two blocks. Each team finished with six blocks.
Washburn led most of the first set after a 3-3 tie. Fey and Molly Lacy each had five kills with no errors. There were nine ties in the second set. Washburn overcame an 11-8 deficit by scoring 12 of the next 16 points for a 20-15 lead. The Lady Buffs closed within two but a kill from Fey ended the set.
