The UW-Whitewater women’s volleyball team swept UW-Stevens Point 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday evening in Russell Arena.

With the win, the No. 11 Warhawks advance to face fourth-ranked and top-seeded UW-Oshkosh on Thursday in Oshkosh. The winner of that match will advance to the WIAC Tournament Championship to battle for the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. 

The first was a set dominated by big runs for both teams. The Pointers scored the first four of the contest. The Warhawks ran off the next six before UWSP tallied eight in a row to reclaim the lead 12-6. The Pointers maintained their six-point advantage later in the set, 18-13 when UWW went on a tear. The Warhawks tallied 12 of the last 14 points in the set to win 25-20. 

UW-Whitewater strung together runs of four and five before capping set two with a 6-0 spurt to take a two-set advantage in the match. 

The Warhawks battled in set three, coming from behind for the sweep. UWSP held the lead early until a 4-0 run knotted the set 13-13. A few points later, UWW strung together five in a row to open up a 22-17 lead. The Warhawks held off a late surge to take set three 25-22. 

Abbie Dix paced the Warhawk offense and defense at the net. The junior middle hammered down 13 kills and registered eight blocks in the match. Fellow middle Amanda Hillmann was efficient tallying six kills on eight attempts – an attack percentage of .750 in the contest. 

Aubrie Krzus recorded 33 assists adding four blocks. Meanwhile, libero Natalie Lawton held down the backcourt with 16 digs.