TOPEKA, Kan. – Tarleton State (11-7) started and finished the Washburn tournament with victories with a pair of losses in between. The TexAnns, after splitting the first day, fell to No. 5 Washburn in straight sets before knocking off Southwest Baptist in five.

Junior middle blocker Nikki McNorton was named to the All-Tournament team following the conclusion of the event. This is her third in as many tournaments this season.

Game 1: Washburn 3, Tarleton 0

Breanna Lewis landed 13 kills to lift No. 5 Washburn (15-1) over Tarleton State 26-24, 25-16, 25-14 in the TexAnns' first game of the second day at the Washburn Classic.

Tarleton jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, scoring four quick points on kills by Stacie Murrah and Katie Covell as well as a pair of Washburn errors.

The tournament hosts struck back with an 8-4 run to knot the score 8-8.

Washburn continued to rise, scoring four of the next five points before Tarleton's Ashley Rine broke the streak with a kill. Katie Covell landed a kill shot on the next serve to bring the score to 12-11 Washburn.

After splitting the next six points, Washburn scored the next four points on two Lewis kills, a Mollie Lacy kill and a service ace to force a Tarleton timeout at 19-15.

Washburn extended the lead to 20-15 before Tarleton came back with an 8-3 run to set up match-point at 24-22. The run was led by three Flynn Harrell kills, two Breawn Waynes kills and Covell kill and a Waynes service ace.

Washburn rallied to take the first set, 26-24, with four straight points, two on kills from Hillary Hughes.

In the second set, Tarleton built an 11-7 lead before Washburn struck for a 14-1 run to lead 21-12, which was broken by a Covell kill.

Washburn ended the set with a 4-3 run.

Tarleton built an early lead in the third set before another big run by Washburn led to the sweep.

The TexAnns led 6-4 before a 14-3 run set-up an inevitable Washburn victory.

Harrell and McNorton led the TexAnns with seven kills each, while Covell just missed the team lead with six. Waynes added five of her own.

Jessie Hartman and Danielle Barker each cracked double figures in assists with 12 and 11, respectively. Emily Klein was the team leader in digs with nine.

Game 2: Tarleton 3, Southwest Baptist 2

Four TexAnns cracked double figures in kills during the five-set marathon in which Tarleton prevailed 25-20, 20-25, 21-25, 25-10, 21-19.

In the first set, Tarleton began with a 10-6 run to start – led by three kills from Stacie Murrah, two from McNorton and one from Harrell.

SBU stayed close but never was able to tie the score, coming as close as 17-18 before Harrell landed a kill to start a 7-3, game-ending rally.

The teams stayed tight to begin the second set, trading off the first 22 points with an 11-11 tie.

Tarleton committed three errors in addition to a kill by Kyle Heim to force a TexAnn timeout at 14-11.

After four SBU errors and kills by Covell and Barker, the TexAnns knotted the score at 17-17.

Southwest Baptist wouldn't be denied, however, ending the set with an immediate 8-3 run.

SBU built and maintained a four-point lead for most of the game, until a Murrah kill made the score 14-11 and started a 4-0 TexAnn run to tie the set at 14-14.

After trading the next two points, SBU ran away with a 10-6 run as Tarleton was unable to score more than twice in a row down the stretch.

The TexAnns responded in the potential elimination set by jumping out to a quick 12-5 lead on the strength of seven errors and kills by McNorton, Murrah, Audra Vaello and Tiana Bond.

Southwest Baptist roared back with a 9-1 run to take a 14-13 lead before McNorton ended the rally with a kill to tie it 14-14.

The McNorton kill started a 11-6 run to end the set including three straight kills by Vaello, McNorton and Bond to force a fifth set.

In the final set, SBU opened with an 11-6 run before two SBU errors and three kills by Covell knotted the score at 11-11.

The team traded points until 19-19 before a Covell kill and a bad set by SBU's Whitney Miller game the set and match to the TexAnns.

Murrah (14), Covell (14), McNorton (13) and Waynes (10) led the TexAnns in kills for the match while Harrell added eight.

Hartman tallied a team-high 35 assists while Barker added 26, while Klein led the team with 86 digs.

Tarleton travels to Texas Woman's Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match before returning home against TexasA&M-Kingsville Thursday at 7 p.m.

For more information regarding the 2011 volleyball season, check out tarletonsports.com.