Dropped 2nd game turning point at Lady Blues fall to No. 4 Truman
Sept. 29, 2006

Box Score | Season Statistics

The Lady Blues took the first game in a matchup of top-10 teams but then lost the next three to lose 27-30, 35-33, 30-26, 30-22 to No. 4 Truman. Washburn, ranked eighth in the nation and No. 1 in the South Central Region, had its nine-match winning streaked snapped as it fell to 16-3 and 4-1 in the MIAA. The Bulldogs, No. 2 in the region, won their 18th straight match and jumped to 18-1 and 6-0 in the league.

Junior outside hitter Bailey Saal led Washburn with a career-high tying 18 kills and had seven of them as the Lady Blues took the first game. Junior rightside hitter Tessa Jones totaled 17 kills and junior middle hitter Mandi Cox had 15 and led WU with a .375 attack percentage.

Washburn had a chance to take a two-game lead. The Lady Blues started Game 2 with leads of 4-0 and 11-4 but the Bulldogs, the only team to beat WU last year, came back at 19-18. The Lady Blues were able to tie the game late and had a chance to win at 31-30 but the Bulldogs were able to stretch it out and win 35-33.

Truman was then able to shut down the Lady Blues, holding them to a .102 team attack percentage in Game 3 and a .078 mark in the deciding game.

Freshman setter Kate Hampson had a career-high 61 assists and junior libero Erica Cowhick led the WU back row with 25 digs. Three other Lady Blues reached double figures in digs, including Saal as she had her fifth double-double of the year.

The Lady Blues entered the match with a streak of 72 wins in which they have won the first game of the match. Truman’s comeback victory snapped that streak which stretched to the end of the 2003 season.