THE RUNDOWN
The DBU Lady Patriots concluded play at the Washburn Invitational with a three-set loss to Northwest Missouri State (25-19, 25-10, 25-16). Senior Katie Nicholson led the Lady Patriots with 13.5 points and eight kills. Junior Strealy Sizelove registered 13 assists and 11 digs while senior Merci Perry added 10 assists of her own. Senior Gabby Grindele posted a kill and a .500 hitting percentage on the day. Senior Lauren Nicks contributed with eight digs while junior Lexie Houston posted six block assists.

After falling behind to open the match, DBU rallied to take the lead 7-5. The two teams then traded points to get to 17-17 before Northwest went on an 8-2 run to pull away for a 25-19 decision.

Down 9-1 early in the second set, DBU went on a 5-2 run to cut the lead 11-6. However, the Bearcats rallied with a 4-0 surge, highlighted by a pair of kills from sophomore Bethany Elkins. Northwest maintained the advantage to go onto a 25-10 set two victory.

With the third set knotted up at four, Northwest used a 6-2 run to take a 10-6 lead. The Bearcats controlled the remainder of the game despite a DBU effort coming within one point down 24-23. Northwest scored the final point to win 25-23 taking the match.  

Following the tournament, Emma Eakin was named to the All-Tournament team.

 
KEY STORYLINES
- Strealy Sizelove contributed double-digit assists in every match this season.
- Gabby Grindele posted a .500 hitting percentage in the match.
- Katie Nicholson and Kasey Holand combined for 22 total points.

CATHY KOKEL ON DBU'S PERFORMANCE
"Overall I am pleased with our teams performance. We have some things we need to work on but some positive areas are showing. If we keep discipline and hard work at the top of our priorities this week, we should be able to be a better team next weekend."

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS
31 - total kills in the match by the Lady Patriots.
14 - total blocks as a team, the highest all season.
27 - assists for the Lady Patriots.
24 - block assists opposed to eight by the Bearcats
9 - Lady Patriots registered at least one point in the match.

UP NEXT
DBU will head to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for the Reddie-Tiger Challenge August 31-September 1, where they will face Union College at 10:00 a.m.