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TOPEKA, Kan. – Marissa Cox shattered her career high with 27 kills Tuesday night as the fourth-ranked Lady Blues defeated Fort Hays State, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 29-27, 25-19) in Lee Arena in the first round of the MIAA postseason tournament.
 
Second-seeded Washburn (31-2) will move on to play No. 3 Central Missouri Friday at 5 p.m. in Kearney, Neb. The Jennies, ranked eighth in the nation, defeated Northwest Missouri, 3-1 Tuesday. Top-seeded Nebraska-Kearney beat Central Oklahoma, 3-0 and earned the right to host the remaining rounds. The Lopers will play Emporia State at 7 p.m. The championship will be Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
Cox had Washburn's last six points of the first set off of kills to finish that frame with 10. She ended the match with just two errors and hit .641 to give her the highest attack percentage in school history for anyone with 30 attempts or more. Her 27 kills is the third-highest total in a four-set match at Washburn.

Cox's previous career high was 15 kills, also against Fort Hays State on October 30 this year. She averaged 5.25 kills a set in the eight sets these two teams played in Topeka this year. She hit .536 during those two matches.
 
Jessica Fey had 13 kills and Jessica Kopp added 10. Hillary Hughes added 16 digs as those three seniors played their final match in Lee Arena, protecting the home court with a 54-2 record in the last four years.
 
Courtney Churchman led the Washburn defense with 23 digs as five players reached double figures. Kelsey Lewis had 14 , Abby Wittman had 13 and Sami McHenry had 12. Wittman added 38 assists for a double-double and Gracie Petersen had 15 assists and a career-high four blocks.
 
The match featured 32 ties and 13 lead changes and Washburn trailed in every set. The Tigers (23-14) were down 15-11 in the second set but they used a 9-0 run to take a 20-15 lead. The streak was the longest given up this year by Washburn. The Lady Blues got within two at 23-21 before the Tigers got to set point and went on to win, 25-22 to tie the match.
 
The Lady Blues were slow to respond in the third set as the Tigers tied the match lat at 17-17 to start a 7-1 run that eventually had them leading, 21-18.
 
Three kills from Cox as part of a 5-2 run tied it at 23 but the Tigers got to set point on a kill from Taylor Mares. There were three more ties after that before Washburn scored three straight to win, 29-27. Fey and Kopp had kills to start that run and Fey and Petersen blocked a FHSU attack to clinch the match and put Washburn up, 2-1.
 
There were 11 ties in the fourth set and the Tigers were within one at 18-17 before Washburn went on a 5-0 run. A kill from Hughes then gave Washburn match point and after a kill from Mares, Cox set down the final kill to cap her evening.
 
Mares had 16 kills and five digs while Madison Schwartz led the Tigers with 17 kills. She added 19 digs for a double-double. Makenzie Weinman had 29 digs to lead the back row.
 
Three players had five or more blocks as Fort Hays State finished with 13 team blocks. Washburn had 11. The Lady Blues led in kills, 6658 and in digs, 92-88. Hughes led Washburn with three aces.