Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: 2007 South Central Regional

In a game of more than 100 points, it was just two of them that made the difference.

West Georgia University had Washburn down to game point in both games one and two, but could not finish off the Lady Blues before losing both in extra hits.

Washburn finished off the sweep 3-0 (33-31, 32-30, 30-13) with a dominating game 3, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament where they will take on The University of Central Missouri tomorrow at 4:30. UCM defeated West Florida University in the early game Thursday.

Despite the victory, Washburn head coach Chris Herron said his team did not play particularly well.

"We are up 29-26 in game one, and the game should be over," Herron said. "We let them get ahead 30-29. So I didn't think we did a good job of finishing. It was pretty sloppy until game three."

The small but vocal West Georgia crowd seemed to give the Wolves energy for most of the match. The Wolves had opportunities to win games one and two, but the more battle tested Lady Blues were able to come up with the big plays when they needed them.

The seventh seeded Wolves were able to hang with Washburn for most of the afternoon, but in the end MIAA player of the Year and All-American Tessa Jones was too much to handle. The senior right side hitter led the No. 2 seed Lady Blues with 17 kills and also recorded a hitting percentage of .326.

Jones said she doesn't feel like victories in the tournament will solidify her career as much as they will the team.

"We all want it so bad," Jones said. "Two years ago we made it to the second round and lost. And we are a better team than we have been in the past years, and so we know we can stay loose and play together."

Despite the struggles in the last several NCAA tournaments, Herron said he thinks that his team is prepared enough to make a run this year.

"This time of year when your kids play, do they believe in themselves, believe in each other, trust each other?" Herron said. "I really like our senior class. They like to compete. They will compete. They play hard. We've been in some battles all year. We've played 14 nationally ranked teams. … Hopefully that has prepared us for what is to come."

Despite being out hit in games one and two, Washburn out hit West Georgia for the match .233-.160. The Lady Blues out hit the Wolves .467-.000 in game 3.

This was West Georgia's first NCAA tournament appearance. Leading the way offensively for the Wolves was Andressa Martins. Martins led West Georgia with 14 kills. Senior outside hitter Carolin Schoeneck also reached double figures in kills with 11.

The match was a bit of a homecoming for Lady Wolves senior outside hitter Paige Ely who is from Columbia, Missouri, and played at Hickman High School. Ely said she was happy to get to play her final college match in front of her family and friends.

"I like it because my whole family gets to come and watch," Ely said. "It kind of gets me pumped up."

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