Oct. 31, 2009

Courtesy of Washburn

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The eighth-ranked Washburn volleyball team fell to No. 4 Central Missouri 3-0 on Friday night in Warrensburg in a battle of top 10-ranked teams. The Lady Blues will look to get back on the winning track on Tuesday night at Missouri Southern at 7 p.m.

Washburn (27-4, 11-4 MIAA) fell behind early in set one and couldn't recover. The Jennies (27-4, 13-2 MIAA)  jumped out to a 10-5 lead before WU rallied to tie the set at 17. UCM won the next two points and eight of the final 11 for the 25-19 win.

Set two was a back-and-forth battle with Central Missouri seizing control behind a quick 4-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. The Jennies led by four at 21-17, but Washburn rallied for four straight points to tie the set. UCM responded with three straight points of their own and won set two 25-22.

The third and final set saw Central Missouri jump out to a big early lead at 17-9. Five straight Washburn points, including two kills by junior Ashley Shepard, made it 17-14. UCM led 19-15 when the Lady Blues went on a 5-0 run behind two kills and a block from Shepard to snare a 20-19 lead. The Jennies rallied again, scoring three straight to regain the lead at 22-20 and they closed out the match with a set three final of 25-22.

Senior Kate Hampson led Washburn with a double-double of 36 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Breanna Lewis had a team-high 12 kills followed by Shepard with 11 and freshman Jessica Fey with 10. Junior Molly Smith had a match-high 21 digs.

Paula Harris led UCM with 15 kills and Caitlin Pankratz recorded a double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs.