Box Score St. Paul, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team, ranked 15th on this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) at 18th-ranked the University of Northwestern (Minn.) Friday night in the Ericksen Center in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Regional semifinal.

UWL ends its season at 23-6 while Northwestern (Minn.) improves to 32-4 and advances to play top-ranked California Lutheran University in Saturday's regional final.  The winner earns one of eight berths to the NCAA III Quarterfinals played at UW-Oshkosh.  UWL won the earlier meeting this season with Northwestern (Minn.), earning a 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 26-28, 25-19) victory September 10 at the Augsburg College (Minn.) Invitational.

UWL advanced to Friday's regional semifinal after a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-23) victory over the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Thursday night. The Eagles are now 18-15 all-time in 14 national championship appearances.

"We were up against a hard team tonight in Northwestern," said UWL head coach Lily Hallock.  "They have improved a lot this season." 

Northwestern (Minn.) led 7-5 in Friday's opening set when UWL went on a 6-2 run to lead 11-9 on a Marisa Johnson kill. The Eagles of Northwestern (Minn.) responded scoring six of the next seven points to take a 15-12 lead.  UWL came back to force ties at 18-18 and 19-19, but back-to-back kills from Freya Hanson and Shanay Gonder gave Northwestern (Minn.) a two-point lead.  UWL later cut the lead to 22-21 on a Jill Entinger kill, but Northwestern (Minn.) scored the final three points of the set.

The Eagles of Northwestern (Minn.) raced out a 12-6 lead in the second set and UWL later trailed 21-9 after a Lindsey Peterson kill.  UWL went on a 11-2 run to cut its deficit to 23-20.  The Eagles of UWL trailed 24-20, but three consecutive kills from Ashley Entinger, Madeline Brown and Jill Entinger cut the lead to 24-23. Northwestern (Minn.) secured the second set with a kill from Anna Gasch.

The third set was tied 11 times, including 16-16 after an Ashley Entinger kill.  Northwestern (Minn.) went on an 7-0 run to lead 23-16.  UWL cut the lead to 23-17, but kills from Gasch and Gonder gave Northwestern (Minn.) the victory.

Stephanie Henk led UWL with nine kills while Ashley Entinger finished with eight and Jill Entinger with seven.  Madison Entinger recorded 33 assists as the Eagles hit .100 overall.

Henk and Halle Barnabo each finished with 16 digs with Madison Entinger recording 15 and Paige Schmdt 14.  UWL had 5.0 team blocks, including one block solo and three block assists from Jill Entinger.

"It was a frustrating match for us," said Hallock.  "We didn't play with our full energy and aggressiveness for the whole match and didn't play consistently.  On the whole, it was an awesome season and a wonderful group of young women I get to work with," added Hallock.

UWL earned its second straight NCAA III appearance in 2016 after securing its second consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) title.

Lindsey Peterson led Northwestern (Minn.) with 16 kills while Kaelyn Kilbo finished with 20 assists and Leese Hulstrand with 14. The Eagles hit .215 for the match.  Peterson also led the team with 27 digs while Abby Vander Gallen finished with 20 and Jackie Doering with 17.