The WTAMU Lady Buff volleyball team was in action Nov. 18 against Emporia State in the first round of the NCAA South Central regional tournament held in Warrensburg, MO.
The Lady Hornets proved to be too much as they defeated WT in four games.
WT got off to a hot start coming out with a 6-1 lead early on. The Lady Buffs kept up the pressure on Emporia with a 9-4 lead. ESU fought back and made things interesting with the game at 15-11. But, in the end WT proved to be too much and eventually took the first set 25-22 over the Lady Hornets.
In set number two, the combination of ESU’s Brianne Boner and Ting Liu proved to be too much for the Lady Buffs to handle. Emporia jumped out to a 6-2 lead and eventually pushed it to 12-5. WT kept fighting throughout the set and at one point made it 17-16, but ESU didn’t let up the pressure and ended set two by a score of 25-20.
Despite having a 19-15 lead in set number three, WT couldn’t keep Emporia from overpowering them and taking a 25-21 victory.
The fourth set proved to be another back and forth affair with both teams trading leads. WT held a 10-6 lead before ESU tied things up at 13-13. The Lady Buffs responded taking an 18-15 lead. But, Emporia refused to be denied as they took the fourth set and the match by a 26-24 score.
Junior Erika Dupree recorded her 24th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 13 digs. Redshirt freshman Haleigh Cearley and junior Keidra Williams both had 11 kills on the night to lead the Lady Buffs. Senior Lauren Thedford had a team-leading 29 digs on the night with sophomore Libero Lauren Beville close behind with 20 digs. Senior Teresa Dunn tallied 18 assists on the night.
The Lady Buffs will graduate seniors Lauren Thedford and Teresa Dunn from the 2010 squad. Both players finished 66-0 against LSC opposition and were a part of LSC championships all four years of their careers.
