Today is Saturday, November 23, 2024
By Angela Kelm
Aast Athletics Director for Sports Information
Whitewater, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team punched its ticket to Salem with a sweep in the Sweet 16 over UW-Platteville 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-19) Saturday evening in Russell Arena.
The NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship will be held at the Cregger Center in Salem, Virginia beginning with quarterfinal matchups on December 4. The championship match is slated for December 7.
It was a memorable night in Russell Arena Saturday as the Warhawks dominated to hoist the Regional Championship trophy. UWW hit .337 in the match while holding the Pioneers to just .085 – much to the credit of the Warhawks’ huge block. UW-Whitewater registered 15 blocks in the contest compared to just 3 for UWP.
The defensive prowess at the net was a factor from the opening serve. UWW rattled off the first seven points of the match with Chloe Werner and Abbie Dix teaming up for a block and Jenna Weinfurt hammering down a pair of kills in the run. The Pioneers narrowed the gap to three, 14-11, but that’s as close as UWW would allow. A four-point run late handed the Warhawks their largest lead of the set, 22-13. A three-point spurt sealed set one as Alayna Jansky tallied a kill on each side of a Werner/Hannah Proctor block.
Set two went back-and-forth until UW-Whitewater ran off five straight to open up a 10-4 advantage. Werner and Proctor turned away a pair of Pioneer attack attempts in the run. From that point, UWW cruised to a 2-0 advantage in the match.
A massive triple block opened and put the finishing touches on set three. Werner, Weinfurt and Dix created a wall for the bookend blocks to send the Warhawks into the Final 8.
Jansky and Werner paced UWW offensively with 10 kills each. Weinfurt added nine and Proctor posted eight. True to form, the blocking stats were impressive Saturday — Werner tallied nine, Dix had eight, Proctor added five while Weinfurt and Krzus each had three.
Jaedynn Evans led UWW in the digs column with 13 while Jansky added 12. Krzus registered 35 assists adding three kills on the night.
Following the conclusion of the match, Dix was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional. Krzus and Jansky were also selected to the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Whitewater Regional All-Tournament Team.
It’s no surprise that UW-Whitewater’s block was one of the main components of the regional … after all matches have gone final across all regionals, the Warhawks remain atop the national rankings with a jaw-dropping 3.14 blocks per set – the next closest in Division III is 2.85 per set. In regional action alone, UWW averaged an incredible 4.83 blocks per set. Dix became the nation’s top blocker along the way, averaging 1.59 per set. That mark ballooned to 2.67 per set in the three regional matches.
The Warhawks are one of two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference programs to advance this weekend as UW-Oshkosh will also compete in Salem. The other six teams include Hope, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Washington & Lee, La Verne and Juniata. The Final 8 are re-seeded after the completion of all regional rounds.
UW-Whitewater is no stranger to the postseason as the Warhawks are amid their 35th appearance in the national tournament. UWW has won two national titles, finished as the national runner-up three times, placed third twice and fourth once along the way. This will be the first appearance for the Warhawks in the Final 8 since 2007.
More information on the national championship will be posted next week.
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
Whitewater, Wis. — The No. 6 UW-Whitewater volleyball team secured their spot in the regional championship match for the third consecutive season Friday night. The Warhawks swept league-foe UW-Eau Claire 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-21) to advance to the title match.
The regional championship will be another Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown as UW-Platteville took down Washington University in St. Louis in the first match Friday to advance. The Pioneers will make their second appearance in the regional championship in program history while the Warhawks will make their seventh under Head Coach Stacy Boudreau as the teams square off Saturday at 5 PM in Russell Arena. The first 100 UW-Whitewater students (with ID) will get in free to tomorrow evening’s regional championship match. Doors open at 4 PM.
The Warhawks were dominant early in Friday’s match against the Blugolds. Like much of the season, the UWW block provided a huge advantage for the Warhawks and continuously swayed momentum in Whitewater’s favor.
A six-point run for UWW midset gave the Warhawks a 17-9 lead. Three blocks bolstered that run and led to a lopsided first set win.
UW-Whitewater jumped out to a 7-1 lead in set two, but the Blugolds whittled away at the margin making it a battle late. UW-Eau Claire rattled off four in a row to knot the set at 21-21. The squads traded points with ties at 22-22 and 23-23. A Blugold service error gave UWW set point. Aubrie Krzus registered one of her six kills to cap the set and give UW-Whitewater a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Blugolds held an early lead in set three until a four-point run for UWW gave the Warhawks a 20-17 advantage. The last three points of that run came on blocks for UWW – Chloe Werner and Abbie Dix tallied the bookend blocks while Dix teamed with Jenna Weinfurt for the second of the run.
A few points later, with UWW leading 22-19, Dix and Krzus turned away a Blugold attack attempt. The defensive powerhouses at the net made it back-to-back blocks on the next rally for match point. UWEC pushed for an additional match point before Alayna Jansky punched UW-Whitewater ticket to the title match with a kill.
Janky led UWW offensively with nine kills. Defense was the difference as Dix posted nine blocks in the contest. Krzus added five blocks to her six kills without an attack error and 26 assists. Werner registered four blocks, a mark that Weinfurt matched.
Jaedynn Evans posted 19 digs with Ally Longden adding 13. At the service line, Weinfurt and Emma Bludgen each tallied a pair of aces.
Fort Atkinson beat Whitewater 46-38 in non-conference girls’ basketball action on Thursday night, November 21. Both teams were looking for the season’s first win, and Whitewater jumped out to an early 14-4 lead. By halftime, Fort Atkinson was back to within one point and started to pull away with a few minutes remaining in the game. Whitewater had a chance to cut it to three with just over two minutes remaining but could not take advantage, and Fort was able to seal the win.
Article Submitted by Mike Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
dowmi01@wwusd.org
Photo courtesy of Bob and Peter Mischka.
By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
The No. 6 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team swept Ohio Wesleyan 28-26, 25-14, 25-15 to open NCAA Regional action Thursday night in Whitewater. The Warhawk win sets up a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup in the next round as UWW will take on UW-Eau Claire at 7 PM Friday in Russell Arena.
Regional Webpage (Click there for the bracket and other information. Single game tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for senior adults and students, $5 for children ages 3-12, children under 3 are free. All day tickets are also available.) The game may be viewed on uwwtv.org or, presumably, on Spectrum cable.
The Warhawks found a way to take the early lead in the match despite a shaky start in set one. The teams traded small runs throughout the set with UWW grabbing the first set point, 24-23. The Battling Bishops responded with the next two points to force another set point. Alayna Jansky hammered down a kill to tie the game, but OWU responded once more for a third set point. Jansky pounded down back-to-back kills and Hannah Proctor put the finishing touches on the set to make it three straight Warhawk kills and hand UWW the 1-0 lead in the match.
The final two sets were all UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks jumped out to an 8-3 advantage in set two. OWU whittled away at the margin, but another big run extended the lead to seven, 17-10. A six-point sway late in the set gave UWW set point, and a Battling Bishop miscue handed the Warhawks a 2-0 lead in the match.
A few small runs added up to a big lead in set three. The Warhawks quickly built a 19-10 advantage and cruised to the finish line. Chloe Werner hammered down a kill and then teamed up with Abbie Dix on a block for the final two points of the match.
Dix paced the Warhawks offensive with 13 kills hitting .458 in the match. Werner was the most efficient with 11 kills in 19 attempts while committing just one attack error on the evening – a hitting percentage of .526. Jansky joined her teammates in double digits with 10 kills.
Defensively at the net, UW-Whitewater showcased why they are the best blocking team in the nation. Proctor and Dix posted seven blocks each while Jenna Weinfurt and Werner had four a piece and Aubrie Krzus added three.
Krzus tallied 33 assists in the match while Jaedynn Evans led UWW with 10 digs.
The Warhawks are competing in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 35th time in program history and 18th under head coach Stacy Boudreau. UW-Whitewater is now 72-5 in matches played in Russell Arena in the last five seasons.
UWW swept UW-Eau Claire during the conference slate this season. The Warhawks won 25-17, 25-22 and 25-11 in that match that was held October 4 in Russell Arena. Since 1995, UWW is 34-13 against the Blugolds.
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