The No. 2 Lady Blues volleyball team fell in five sets Tuesday night in Maryville, Mo., to the Northwest Missouri Bearcats by a score of 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 22-20).

However, it was not all bad for the Lady Blues. Senior libero/defensive specialist Molly Smith moved into 10th place on the MIAA’s career digs list. She currently has the third most career digs in Washburn history, needing only 33 digs to move into second place on the list.

Freshman hitter Aubri Renshaw led the Blues with a career-high 22 kills and 13 digs, with sophomore hitter Hillary Hughes also recording a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs.  Junior rightside hitter Breanna Lewis added 17 kills. Junior setter Amanda Guess and redshirt freshman setter Abby Wittman combined for 61 assists.

On Wednesday, the first volleyball regional rankings were released, with Washburn ranked third in the South Central Region following fellow MIAA schools Central Missouri and Truman State, respectively. Washburn will have a chance to take on the latter Friday night at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena in the Think Pink game, in which fans are encouraged to wear pink to support breast cancer awareness.

On Saturday, the Blues will then face Missouri Western at 6 p.m. in Lee Arena before traveling to Omaha, Neb., on Oct. 26 for a reunion with the Mavericks.