Box Score Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 25-20) to 11th-ranked UW-Whitewater Friday night in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship semifinals presented by Culver's in UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center. The Eagles drop to 19-9 on the season while the Warhawks improve to 30-4.
UWL, the tournament's second-seed, will play in the third-place match Saturday, November 7 at noon versus top-seeded UW-Oshkosh. Third-seeded UW-Whitewater will face fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point in the championship match at 2:30 p.m.. UW-Stevens Point earned a 3-2 (25-18, 17-25, 28-26, 18-25, 15-13) win over UW-Oshkosh in Friday's other semifinal.
UW-Whitewater took an early 5-2 lead in the opening set Friday before UWL came back to force an 8-8 tie. The set was tied 10-10 when the Warhawks went on a 6-2 run to lead 16-12. The Eagles could get no closer than two points the rest of the set.
UW-Whitewater led 5-2 again in the second set, but UWL used on a 7-0 run to lead 9-5. The set was tied 10-10 before the Eagles scored four straight points to lead 14-10. UWL never relinquished the lead the rest of the set and earn the 25-23 victory.
The Warhawks got off to a fast start in the third set, leading 7-2. The Eagles could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
UWL scored five of the first eight points in the fourth set, but UW-Whitewater forced a 7-7 tie with a 4-2 run. The Eagles scored three consecutive points to a 10-7 advantage and later led 14-8 before the Warhawks scored 11 of the next 13 points to lead 19-16. UWL cut the lead to two, including 22-20, but could get no closer.
Ashley Entinger led UWL with nine kills Friday night while
Stephanie Henk and
Jessica Jablonski each finished with eight.
Jill Entinger had six kills.
Jaclyn Barrette recorded 33 assists as the Eagles hit .059 (37-29-136) for the match.
Barrette had a team-high 15 digs while
Danica Johnson recorded 14. UWL had 8.0 team blocks with
Jill Entinger recording four block assists. Jablonski had one block solo and three block assists.
Lauren Pfeifer led UW-Whitewater with 14 kills while Staci Hasler finished with 10 kills and hit .474 (10-1-19). Hasler also had 35 assists as the Warhawks hit .212 (50-21-137).
Brittany Robinson had a match-high 21 digs with Tessa Weber finishing with 17. UW-Whitewater finished with 13.0 team blokcs. Courtney Wagner had six block assists while Brittany Langley had five.
