Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team, ranked 16th on this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, fell 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 14-25, 25-19, 7-15) at city-rival and second-ranked Viterbo University (Wis.) Wednesday night in R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium. The Eagles drop to 4-1 on the season while the V-Hawks, ranked second in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), improves to 8-0.
UWL trailed by as many as nine in the first set, including 12-3, 14-5 and 17-8. The Eagles used a 11-2 run to force a 19-19 tie after a
Stephanie Henk ace. The teams exchanged kills before
Jessica Jablonski's kill and block gave UWL a 22-20 advantage. A Viterbo (Wis.) hitting error and
Marisa Johnson kill made it 24-20. A V-Hawks service error ended the first set.
Viterbo (Wis.) used a 8-3 run to take a 14-9 lead in the second set before UWL came back to cut the advantage to 16-15 on a
Laine Hoeffel kill. The V-Hawks ended the set winning nine of the last 12 points.
UWL scored the first point of the third set on a
Paige Schmidt ace, but Viterbo (Wis.) scored the next three points and never trailed again in earning a 25-14 win. The Eagles never trailed in winning the fourth set, racing out to a 6-1 lead. The V-Hawks forced a 12-12 tie, but the Eagles responded scoring the next five points in leading to a 25-19 victory.
The fifth and deciding set was tied three times, including 5-5, when Viterbo (Wis.) scored seven straight points to lead 12-5. The V-Hawks hit .265 in the fifth set, recording 10 kills and one error in 34 attempts.
Johnson led UWL with 15 kills while Henk finished with 14 and Hoeffel 10. The Eagles hit .061 overall, recording 46 kills and 36 errors in 164 attempts.
Madison Entinger totaled 44 assists, nine digs and three aces.
Halle Barnabo finished with a match-high 23 digs while Henk had 12 digs and 4.0 blocks. Jablonski also added 4.0 blocks.
Natalie Geidel led four Viterbo (Wis.) players in double figures in kills with 15. Siera Skow finished with 13, Aubrey Aspen 11 and Maya Roberts 10. The V-Hawks hit .217 in the match with 55 kills, 21 errors and 157 attempts. Amelia Grahn had 46 assists and 13 digs. Baylee Gross led Viterbo (Wis.) with 20 digs while Chloe Jakscht finished with 11.
UWL returns to action Friday, September 8 at the Augsburg College (Minn.) Invitational. The Eagles face Augsburg (Minn.) at 3 p.m. and the University of Northwestern (Minn.) at 7 p.m.
