Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team, ranked 10th on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, clinched a share of its second straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) title with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-18) win over UW-Platteville Friday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 21-4 overall and 5-2 in the WIAC while the Pioneers drop to 11-20 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
UWL clinched a share of its 11th WIAC title in school history with Friday's win. The Eagles also captured league crowns in 1972, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 2003 and 2015. UWL clinches this year's title with 14th-ranked UW-Whitewater, a 3-0 win at 23rd-ranked UW-Eau Claire Friday. UW-Oshkosh can also earn a share of the conference title with a victory at UW-Stout Saturday, October 29.
UWL is the second seed for the WIAC Championship (Presented by Culver's). The Eagles will host a semifinal Thursday, November 3 at 7 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday, November 5.
"It's very gratifying to both the coaches and the team to get a second straight conference title," said UWL head coach
Lily Hallock. "We graduated four outstanding seniors last year and for this team to come together and reach the championship again shows how hard they worked as a group. It also really shows what an outstanding job this year's seniors (
Ashley Entinger,
Jill Entinger,
Abby Scharbarth,
Ida Steingas) did."
Stephanie Henk led UWL with 13 kills Friday with
Jill Entinger and
Marisa Johnson each finishing with seven.
Ashley Entinger recorded six kills.
Madison Entinger had 31 assists as the Eagles hit .220 for the match.
Halle Barnabo led the Eagles with 15 digs with Johnson finishing with 10 and Henk eight. UWL had 12.0 team blocks with
Jessica Jablonski recording seven block assists.
Jill Entinger and Johnson each had four block assists while
Ashley Entinger and
Madison Entinger each had three.
"We started off a little slow tonight, but came around and played some great volleyball," said Hallock. "All four seniors were able to contribute. We had a great team effort tonight with a strong balanced offense."
Lidia Frias led UW-Platteville with five kills while Amber Williams and Allison Jensen each had three. Allie Carter finished with 16 assists as the Pioneers hit -.011. Lindsey Decker recorded 14 digs. UW-Platteville had 10.5 blocks with Frias finishing with two block solos and five blocks assists. Maddie Dower had three block assists.
UWL returns to action Thursday, November 3 hosting a WIAC Championship (Presented by Culver's) semifinal at 7 p.m.
