Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17) victory over eighth-ranked UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall.  The Eagles improve to 18-8 overall and 5-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks fall to 26-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference.  With the win, UWL moves into sole possession of first-place in the WIAC.  UW-Oshkosh is in second-place with a league record of 4-1. 

UWL earned its second win in the last seven meetings with UW-Whitewater, which entered the match ranked eighth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll.  The Warhawks had their 16-match winning streak snapped with Wednesday's loss. 

The opening set was tied 2-2 when UWL scored eight of the next 13 points to lead 10-5.  The Eagles led 15-7 after a Jill Entinger kill and 18-10 on a Jessica Jablonski kill.  UW-Whitewater scored the next six points to cut the lead to 18-16, including three straight hitting errors on UWL.   Stephanie Henk's kill gave UWL a 19-16 advantage and UW-Whitewater could get no closer than two the rest of the way.

"We haven't done a great job this season of coming out strong to start the match, so it's been a consistent topic of conversation,"  said UWL head coach Lily Hallock.  "The team went all in tonight and stayed strong throughout the match.  It shows our team we have the potential to start a match strong and how much that does for us."

Neither team led by more than three points in the second set.   The Eagles led 13-10 on a Jill Entinger kill before the Warhawks came back to lead 19-16.  UWL trailed 21-19 when it scored three consecutive points to take a 22-21 advantage.  Lauren Pfeifer tied at 22-22 with a kill for UW-Whitewater, but Henk's kill and a pair of hitting errors from the Warhawks gave the Eagles the second set victory. 

UWL trailed 6-5 in the third set before scoring five straight points to lead 10-6.

Leah Putzier had two kills and Ashley Entinger one for the Eagles.  UW-Whitewater cut the lead to 10-9, but UWL scored the next three points to lead 13-9 and the Warhawks could get no closer than three points the rest of the match.

Putzier led UWL with 14 kills while Henk finished with 12.  Putzier hit .273 (14-5-33) and Henk .400 (12-4-20) in the match.  Jill Entinger finished with eight kills while Jablonski and Ashley Entinger each had six.  Jaclyn Barrette recorded 38 assists as the Eagles hit .261 (47-18-111).  UWL hit .400 (18-4-35) in the third set. 

Danica Johnson led the Eagles with 10 digs while Paige Schmidt and Hallie Locher each finished with nine.  Barrette added eight digs.  UWL had 5.0 team blocks with Putzier and Jill Entinger each recording three block assists. 

Pfeifer led UW-Whitewater with nine kills Wednesday night while Sydney Racky, Kelley Berk and Brittany Langley finished with four.  Staci Hasler registered 24 assists as the Warhawks hit .081 (27-18-111).  

Brittany Robinson had a match-high 12 dis with Tessa Weber finishing with 10.  UW-Whitewater had 7.0 team blocks with Courtney Wagner recording four block assists. 

"This (win) helps show other people of how are our team already feels," said Hallock.  "We know we have the potential to do great things this season and I think this helps to prove that to the outside world.  This just confirms what we already know what we are capable of doing."

UWL wraps up its regular season Friday, October 30 at UW-Platteville at 7 p.m.