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Washburn (31-2) vs No. 3 West Texas A&M (34-2)

The fifth-ranked Lady Blues will take on 13th-ranked West Texas A&M Friday at 5 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA South Central Region tournament in the Central Missouri Multipurpose Building.

Washburn (31-2), seeded No. 2 in the region, defeated No. 7 Akransas Tech 3-0 Thursday in the opening round and third-seeded WTAMU (34-2) topped No. 6 Arkasnas-Fort Smith 3-1. The Lady Buffs won their 18th straight match.

The winner will play in the South Central Region final Saturday at 7 p.m. against the No. 1 Central Missouri/No. 4 Angelo State winner. Those two teams will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

UCM overcame a 2-0 deficit to crush eighth-seeded Abilene Christian 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-8, 25-14, 15-7). Angelo State defeated No. 5 St. Edward's, also in five (25-23, 25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 15-13)

Washburn NCAA tournament history
The Lady Blues improved to 10-8 with their win Thursday as they made their eighth straight NCAA tournament appearance and ninth overall. They made their first trip in 2002 and returned in 2004 and have been every year since. They are 6-3 in first round matches, winning their last three. They are 2-3 in regional semifinals. They are 9-7 overall in regional play and 1-1 in national tournament play, advancing out of the region in 2007 and hosting the eight-team national tournament, finishing as semifinalists.

Washburn-West Texas A&M series history
Washburn and Lady Buffs are tied 2-2 in the all-time series history. WTAMU defeated Washburn, 3-0 in the NCAA second round in Warrensburg in 2009. The two also met in the regular season that year with Washburn winning 3-1 in the Lady Blues Fall Classic. Washburn also won in 2007 in the Lady Blues Fall Classic.

Jessica Kopp had her first career double-double as a freshman in the 2009 NCAA tournament match against WTAMU with 11 kills and 11 digs. In the regular season match that year, Hillary Hughes had a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs.

Previewing West Texas A&M
The Lady Buffs have won 18 straight and are 34-2 overall. They won their sixth straight Lone Star Conference regular season title with a 19-1 mark. They also won their sixth straight postseason LSC tournament. LSC co-offensive player of the year Ashley Davis, a sophomore outside hitter, averages 3.62 kills a set with a .297 attack percentage. Setter Lacy Hayes was named setter of the year and she averages 11.56 assists a set. Erin Dougherty was named LSC defensive player of the year and she averages 1.48 blocks a set.

WTAMU head coach Jason Skoch is in his third season since coming over from Truman State. He is 1-1 against WU with the Lady Buffs and he was 6-4 against Washburn while at Truman to give him a 7-5 career record against Washburn. He coached against Washburn in 2009 in the NCAA tournament with a win and he went 1-1 against WU while at TSU in the NCAA tournament.

Net Notes
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...Amanda Guess had three assists Thursday and has 1,594 in her career...she is currently eighth in school history.