Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TOPEKA, Kan. — Southern Nazarene dropped a pair of 3-0 matches Saturday to Emporia State (Kan.) (25-22, 25-22, 25-14) and No. 4 Washburn (Kan.) (25-11, 25-11, 25-22) to close out the Lady Blues Classic.
 
The Crimson Storm (8-12) got a team-high 11 kills out of both Ellen Martin and Natalia Oliveira in the opener while Taylor Chase had 32 assists. Oliveira also had six digs. Jamie Hope had four blocks while the Storm as a team had six.
 
Emporia got the first break in the opening set when it broke a 13-13 tie with three straight points to lead 16-13 and never trailed again. Southern Nazarene cut it to one at 19-18, but that was as close as the Storm came. There were 11 ties in the second set with the last one coming at 22-22. The Hornets then closed out the set with three straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Hornets controlled the final set from start to finish to close out the match.
 
In the final match of the tournament, SNU hit just .161 (28-14-87) and was led by Oliveira's eight kills. She also had a team-high seven digs. Nicole Greenway had seven while Hope had six. Chase doled out 22 assists.
 
SNU didn't hit over .100 in the first two sets as Washburn cruised into the third set. The Storm did hit .444 (13-1-27) in the second set, but it was too little too late.
 
The Crimson Storm will now get set to host Arkansas-Fort Smith, Tuesday, for a 7 p.m. non-conference match.