Lady Blues clinch MIAA West top spot with win at MSSU
Oct. 21, 2006

Box Score | Season Statistics

JOPLIN, Mo. – Freshman setter Kate Hampson had a double-double as she reached 50 assists for the second straight night and the Lady Blues defeated Missouri Southern 3-1 (30-19, 30-25, 24-30, 30-22) Saturday night in an MIAA West matchup. No. 15 Washburn improved to 24-6 and 9-3 in the MIAA West Division. With just one more conference match remaining, Washburn clinched the top spot in the division and will host the first round of the MIAA tournament October 31. WU will next be in action Wednesday against Emporia State at 7 p.m. and then will wrap up with a non-conference match with Missouri Western Friday.

Washburn was led in attack by sophomore middle hitter Stephanie Nitz with a career-high .636 attack percentage (15 kills, 1 error, 22 attempts). Junior rightside hitter Tessa Jones had 19 kills while junior middle hitter Mandi Cox had 13 kills, six blocks and hit .375 (1 error, 32 attempts). Hampson had 57 assists and 12 digs for her 11th double-double of the year. She also added four blocks and four kills. Junior libero Erica Cowhick led WU with 21 digs.

Washburn edged the Lions with a .219 to .199 advantage on attack percentage and 8-7 lead on team blocks. The Lady Blues had nine service aces with Cox contributing three of them.