Today is Sunday, July 28, 2024
Editor’s note: The following announcement was posted to the WIAC website.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater claimed the outright Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) women’s volleyball championship with a 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 victory over UW-Eau Claire at Kris Russell Volleyball Arena on Oct. 28.
The first-place finish is the league-leading 18th in program archives. The Warhawks (23-5 overall, 7-0 WIAC) also secured the No. 1 seed for the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver’s) – receiving a bye into the semifinals. The six-team event will begin with first round contests on Nov. 1, and will be followed by semifinal matches on Nov. 3. The championship game will be held Nov. 5 with the winner earning the conference’s automatic NCAA bid. All matches will be played at the higher seed.
Against UW-Eau Claire (21-7, 4-3), Jenna Weinfurt and Erin McNeil combined for nine kills in the first set to lead the Warhawks to a 26-24 win.
UW-Whitewater jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead in set two. Kirsten Anderson and McNeil teamed up for a towering block that forced an early Blugold timeout. UW-Eau Claire worked their way back into the set pulling to within four, 15-11, forcing a UW-Whitewater timeout. The Warhawks scored five of the next six out of the break to extend the advantage to 20-13 when the Blugolds tried to halt the UW-Whitewater momentum. A fantastic rally on set point led to a UW-Eau Claire attack error to seal the 25-18 set two victory for the Warhawks.
Set three featured small runs by each team with the squads stealing momentum back-and-forth. One of those runs gave the Blugolds a 19-14 advantage. The Warhawks rattled off the next four to pull within one and force a UW-Eau Claire timeout. A McNeil tool of the block out of the break tied it up. From that point, the teams traded points with the Blugolds calling their final timeout of the set with the Warhawks leading 23-22 following a kill from Anderson.
UW-Eau Claire registered the first point out of the timeout but Weinfurt made it match point with a powerful kill. A great set from KellyAnn Sotiros close to the net went out to Weinfurt who went high off the top of the block for the kill sealing the 25-23 win.
Weinfurt hammered down a match-high 14 kills hitting .355 in the contest. Hannah Proctor led the Warhawks at the net defensively with four blocks including one solo. In the backcourt, Morgan Jensen tallied nine digs. Sotiros posted 24 assists in the match.
Arianna Barrett led the Blugolds with 11 kills, while Sheridan Dettmann had 11 digs and Charlie Nelson 32 assists.
By Angela Kelm
Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
UW-Whitewater
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team registered another instant classic win at Perkins Stadium Saturday, defeating UW-River Falls 30-27 on a field goal with no time remaining. The Warhawks picked up the win in front of a stellar crowd in excess of 13,000 at The Perk during the university’s annual Homecoming celebration.
Saturday’s game was a battle of two halves, the first dominated by UWW, the second by UWRF. Still, the Warhawks found a way at the end to come out on top in epic fashion – a 49-yard field goal that hit the crossbar and bounced through the uprights with no time remaining.
The Warhawks were firing on all cylinders from the get-go. UWW’s defense forced a three-and-out on the opening drive and the offense put up points in their first opportunity of the game. The seven-play, 38-yard drive was capped by an Evan Lewandowski (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Lake Zurich)–Sam DeLany (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine) connection from four-yards out. Jeffery Isotalo-McGuire (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle) added the extra point for the early 7-0 lead.
The defense handed the ball right back to the Warhawk offense as Thomas Wojnowski (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) picked off the Falcon quarterback on the first play of the next drive. Returning it down to the UWRF 23, Wojnowski gave the offense great field position that turned into a 38-yard field goal for Isotalo-McGuire and a 10-0 lead.
Two possessions later, just over a minute into the second quarter, Preston Strasburg (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) punched it in from the one-yard line. The point after made it 17-0 UWW.
UW-River Falls responded putting together an 11-play, 89-yard drive capped by a touchdown pass to get on the board. A bad snap on the extra point had the Warhawks barreling down on the holder and forcing an incomplete pass to keep it 17-6.
UW-Whitewater’s next drive stalled ending in a punt, but the defense continued to impress. Kyle Gallagher (Niles, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) got to UWRF quarterback Kaleb Blaha for a sack and loss of 11-yards to force third down. Later in the drive, on fourth down, Shane McGrail (Plainfield, Ill./North) sacked Blaha for a loss of 17 to bring the Warhawk offense back out at the Falcon 36.
Six plays later, Isotalo-McGuire added three more, splitting the uprights from 30-yards out for a 20-6 lead with just over two minutes to go.
The defense gave the offense one more opportunity in the first half, forcing a punt with a minute to go. Tamir Thomas (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) opened the drive with a 24-yard scamper up the middle to midfield. Lewandowski followed with a pair of completions to Steven Hein (St. Charles, Ill./North) and Tommy Coates (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) to get the offense down to the Falcon 17. On the next play, Lewandowski handed to Thomas who went up the middle for 17-yards and the touchdown. Isotalo-McGuire stayed perfect on the day making it 27-6.
UWRF completed a pass with 29 seconds to go before Reed Farrington (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) and Justin Allen (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) teamed up for another Warhawk sack to send UWW into the intermission with all of the momentum.
The third quarter was all UW-River Falls. Scoring on their first drive the Falcons added more points following a Warhawk turnover to pull to within seven, 27-20, with 15 minutes left to play.
Late in the fourth, with UWRF driving, Gallagher exploded off the corner and sacked Blaha once again forcing a 4th-and-13 from the UWW 31. The Warhawks nearly got to Blaha on the next play, but he was able to find a receiver just past the first down marker out of the scramble. UWRF scored a touchdown on the next play and knotted the game at 27-27 with the extra point.
The teams traded punts with UWW regaining possession at their own 43 with about 30 seconds to go. On 3rd and 10, Strasburg went up the middle for a first down to the River Falls 44 with head coach Kevin Bullis signaling for the timeout with 11 seconds to go. Lewandowski hit DeLany to get UWW into field goal range. The Warhawks called timeout with five seconds left. As the field goal crew set up, the Falcons called timeout to try and ice Isotalo-McGuire.
After the brief break, the field goal unit set, a good hold followed a good snap and Isotalo-McGuire put his full boot into the 49-yarder. The kick was dead center, coming down on the top of the crossbar and bouncing through for the field goal with no time remaining.
With wins Saturday, UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse are now tied for the top spot in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-Platteville fell to UW-Stout taking them out of a tie for the top spot with two weeks of regular season play remaining.
Editor’s note: The following press release was received from the UW-Whitewater Athletics Department.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Department of Intercollegiate Athletics’ 57th Hall of Fame Class will be inducted Saturday.
Former student-athletes Justin Beaver ’08, Megan Kielar Carstens ’06, Gary Garcia ’08, Aaron Henderson ’05, Lisa McManus Kemps ’03, Ryan Kleppe ’08, Carlene Polk ’08 and Lisa Irons Prien ’04 will be inducted. Former head men’s and women’s soccer coach Greg Henschel will be inducted under the category of staff/coach, and longtime Warhawk supporter Tom Harty will be posthumously inducted for his distinguished service to the institution.
All 10 individuals will be recognized for their contributions to Warhawk Athletics as part of the UW-Whitewater football team’s game against UW-River Falls on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 1 p.m. Inductees will be part of the Homecoming Parade, which begins at 10 a.m., and be honored at halftime of the football game and at the annual Hall of Fame banquet, which begins following the contest at 4:30 p.m. at the University Center’s Hamilton Room.
For more information on each inductee: https://uwwsports.com/news/2022/6/16/general-uw-whitewater-athletics-reveals-2022-hall-of-fame-class.aspx
The JV Whippet Swimmers competed at JV Conference in Elkhorn on Tuesday, October 25. The Whippets showed up to compete as many of our swimmers took home some new hardware including the following:
🏆In the 200 Freestyle Relay – Georgia Esch, Atreya Wilson, Lucy Davis, and Michelle Abarca placed 8th overall.
🏆In the 100 Breaststroke, Atreya Wilson placed 5th overall with a best time of 2:55.01.
🏆In the 400 Freestyle, Lucy Davis with a 7th place finish!
🏆In the 400 Freestyle Relay – Lucy Davis, Georgia Esch, Michelle Abarca, and Atreya Wilson placed 7th overall.
We also had some impressive swims and best times including the following:
✔In the 50 Freestyle – Michelle Abarca 36.29, Angela Hudec 42.35, and Sanibel Fox-Simes 52.69.
✔In the 100 Freestyle – Michelle Abarca 1:25.12, Lucy Troxel 1:28.87, and Sanibel Fox-Simes 1:57.81.
✔In the 100 Backstroke – Georgia Esch 1:40.86 and Angela Hudec 1:44.36.
✔In the 100 Breaststroke – Atreya Wilson 1:40.06 and Lucy Troxel 1:48.88.
We are so proud of our JV Whippet Swimmers! What an awesome way to end the season; we are so excited to see what is in store for these swimmers next season!
Article and Photos Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Swim Coach
sreynolds@wwusd.org
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