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KEARNEY, Neb. – The third-ranked Lady Blues won the opening set Saturday at No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney but dropped three straight to fall 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-16) and lose their first match of the year. The battle between NCAA Division II's only unbeaten teams saw 30 ties and 12 lead changes in the four sets.
 
Hillary Hughes got her 1000th career dig and ended the match with 993 kills. She'll enter next weekend's Lady Blues Fall Classic presented by The Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel needing seven digs to become the eighth player to join the 1,000 digs/1,000 kills club. The Lady Blues (14-1, 5-1 MIAA) will begin the 10-team, two-court event Friday at 2 p.m. against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Lee Arena.
 
Hughes ended with 10 kills and 10 digs for her 30th career double-double. Jessica Kopp tied her career high with 15 kills and Marissa Cox added 11. Abby Wittman and Courtney Churchman each had 22 of Washburn's 104 digs and Gracie Petersen had 14.
 
The Lady Blues were down 15-9 in the opening set before two 5-0 runs made it 20-17 Washburn. The Lopers, who lead the MIAA in attack percentage, had five attack errors during those two runs. A kill from Cox later gave Washburn a 23-21 lead and then kills from Hughes and Kopp got Washburn the set win.
 
There were 17 ties in the second set and neither team scored more than two straight points until after the final tie at 21-21 when the Lopers got four straight points to win the match.
 
The Lady Blues once again had the third set tied at 21-21 after a kill and then ace from Hughes but UNK scored three straight to get to set point and eventually win it. The Lopers kept the momentum in the fourth set with two 5-0 runs that built their lead to 17-8 near the halfway point. Washburn then scored four straight and then three straight to get to 19-15 but the Lopers scored six of the final seven points to clinch the match.
 
Nebraska-Kearney hit .189 with 58 kills and 100 digs. The Lady Blues hit a season-low .115 with 50 kills and an 8-6 advantage in blocks. Jessica Fey and Megan Stroyek led Washburn with four blocks each.
 
Hughes now has 1,008 digs and she became the 19th player in Washburn history to reach 1,000, the last being Molly Smith in 2009.