La Crosse, Wis.  - The University of Wisconsin La Crosse volleyball team snapped a 24 game Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) losing streak as the came from behind to defeat UW-River Falls 3-2. The conference win is the Eagles first since September 14, 2022 when they defeated UW-River Falls 3-1. 
 
THE BASICS 
Final Score:  UW-La Crosse defeated UW-River Falls 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-8
Location: Mitchell Hall, La Crosse, Wis.
Records: UWL 17-10 (1-4 WIAC), UW-River Falls 10-14, (0-5 WIAC) 

HOW DID IT HAPPEN

• Leading 3-2, UW-River Falls extended their lead four with a 5-2 run to lead 8-4. After the Falcons took a 12-6 lead, UWL scored four straight to cut their deficit to 12-10. UW-River Falls would take a 20-14 lead before UWL pulled with 21-17. The Falcons then scored four of the final five points to win the first set 25-18. 
• UW-River Falls took an early 16-8 lead in the second set as they used a 10-3 run to gain momentum. UWL did not go away quietly though as they outscored UW-River Falls 13-5 to pull with in 23-21. A kill by Maddy Wilson and a UW-River Falls hitting error would even the score at 23-23 before the Falcons scored the final two point to take the second set 25-23. 
• After the Falcons scored the first two points of the third set, UWL scored five straight to lead 5-2. The Falcons would tie it up at 14-14 but UWL scored six of the next eight points to lead 20-16. A Falcons kill and service ace would make it 20-18 but UWL responded with back-to-back kills from Grace Nommensen and Wilson to put the Eagles up 22-18. UWL would score three of the final five points to win the third set 25-20. 
• Trailing 6-5 in the fourth set, UWL would force four UW-River Falls hitting errors and Kayla Sexton recorded back-to-back kills to give UWL an 11-7 lead. UW-River Falls would get a kill by Reese Bauman followed by a UWL hitting error to make it 13-11; however, UWL would go on a 7-2 run to take a 20-13 lead to force a Falcon timeout. The Falcons would get a Blessing Adebisi kill followed by an Eagle hitting error to make it 20-15. But that would be as close as the Falcons would get as the Eagles scored five of the final six points to win the fourth set 25-16 and force a fifth set. 
• It would be all Eagles in the decisive fifth set as they got off to a fast 7-2 start and force a UW-River Falls timeout. Two service aces from Wilson along with two kills by Sexton and a double block by Reese Yocum and Bella Kootke got the Eagles off to a great start. A Nommensen kill followed by a Falcon hitting error would put UWL up 12-6 and UW-River Falls would not get any closer than five (12-7) as UWL won the fifth set 15-8. 

FROM THE BOX SCORE

• Sexton led the Eagles with her 11th double-double of the season as she finished with 12 kills and 10 digs.
• Offensively, the Eagles were also led by Wilson with nine kills while Nommensen and Yocum each added eight kills apiece.
• Defensively, the Eagles had five players in double figures in digs and were led by senior Taylor Larson with 22. Joining Larson and Sexton in double figures was Sydney Hoeft with 14 while Megan Lund added 13 and Megan Jasperson finished with 12. 
• Hoeft and Lund join Sexton with double-doubles as they finished with 17 and 16 assists respectively to go along with their double digit digs total. 

 UP NEXT

• UWL will return to action when they travel to Northfield, Minn. on Saturday, October 25 to play in the Carleton College (Minn.) Triangular. The Eagles will open up with Hamline University (Minn.) at 2 p.m. and then face Carleton College (Minn.) at 4 p.m.