Box Score |
Season Stats |
Photo Gallery
TOPEKA, Kan. - No. 4 Washburn cruised to easy victories in sets one and two and then came back from seven down in set three to sweep Missouri Southern, 25-15, 25-14, 25-21 Wednesday night at Lee Arena in both team's MIAA opener.
The Lady Blues (8-1, 1-0 MIAA) won their 11th straight home-opener and 10th straight MIAA-opener. They will continue MIAA action next Tuesday as they play at Northwest Missouri at 7 p.m.
Jessica Kopp led the Lady Blues with eight kills and hit .412 in the match.
Mollie Lacy hit .500 with six kills and no errors. She led WU with four blocks.
Breanna Lewis,
Hillary Hughes and
Marissa Cox each also had six kills. Lewis hit .750 with six kills and no errors in eight tries.
The Lady Blues were well on their way to giving head coach
Chris Herron his 10th straight sweep in a home-opening match before Missouri Southern took control midway through the third set. The Lions went on a 6-0 run to break an 8-8 tie and go up, 14-8. A setting error by WU put the Lions up, 16-9 for their biggest lead of the set.
Washburn answered with a 5-0 run that was capped by a kill from
Gracie Petersen. A few points later three straight attack errors by MSSU and then an ace from
Amanda Guess put Washburn on top, 20-19. They closed off the match with another pair of kills from Cox.
The Lady Blues hit .330 in the match while MSSU had a .093 percentage. The first two sets were much easier for WU.
Washburn's well-balanced attack hit .393 in the opening set and led the whole way after a 1-1 tie. The Lions stayed close until they gave up a 5-0 run that gave Washburn an 18-11 lead. MSSU scored just four more times after that.
The Lady Blues broke a 3-3 tie in the second set and never looked back. Two straight kills by Cox gave WU an 11-4 lead and then a 5-0 lead gave WU a 16-7 lead. Washburn closed the set on a 5-0 run capped by a kill from Hughes.
Washburn used three setters in the match.
Abby Wittman started and got 11 while
Gracie Petersen and
Amanda Guess got 10 each. Lewis led WU with 11 digs.
Notes: Herron has gotten a 3-0 sweep in each of the 10 home-openers he has coached at Washburn...The Lady Blues have won every home-opener since 2001...they have won every MIAA-opener since 2002...Washburn has now beat MSSU 20 straight times with each win coming under Herron.
