Bloomington, Ill. – The 2025 campaign for UW-Whitewater volleyball came to a close in the second round of the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship Friday evening. The Warhawks fell to Calvin in four sets 27-29, 25-12, 23-25, 18-25. 

The Warhawks got on top early with a kill from Abbie Dix followed by back-to-back aces from Kyanne Wusterbarth. A Calvin miscue made it 4-0 UWW. The Knights responded eventually tying the set 8-8. The teams traded small runs with Calvin grabbing their first lead 14-15. Head Coach Stacy Boudreau called her first timeout of the set one point later. 

On the other side of the break, the Knights were able to build a three-point margin, 15-18, when the Warhawks put together a 5-1 run to reclaim the lead 20-19 and force a Knight timeout. Dix and Gaby DiMotto registered kills while Kylee Altendorf and Aubrie Krzus added aces in the run that was capped by an Amanda Hillmann and Emily Lego block. 

The squads traded points out of the timeout until Emma Bludgen hammered down a kill to give UWW a 23-22 advantage and force Calvin’s second timeout of the set. The Knights got the first two points out of the break to push set point as Coach Boudreau signaled for timeout. Bludgen tipped over the block for a kill to knot the set 24-24. After multiple set points, a deep Knight serve had the Warhawk bench calling out, but the line judge signaling in for the 27-29 final. 

UW-Whitewater responded in a big way, absolutely dominating set two for a 25-12 win. The Warhawks had their way offensively pounding down 14 kills with a team attack percentage of .387 in the set. Three blocks and three aces bolstered UWW in the set and swung all of the momentum to the Warhawks. 

Set three was much like the first – a back-and-forth battle with the teams trading leads, but the Knights coming out on top 23-25. 

UWW struggled to rebound offensively as the Knight defense picked up in the final set. Calvin tallied eight total blocks in set four, leading to the 25-18 final score. 

Dix paced the UWW offense and defense at the net with 13 kills and 6 blocks. Bludgen joined Dix in double digits with 10 kills adding 10 digs, 3 aces and a block. Krzus registered 35 assists and tallied 8 kills and 4 blocks. 

UWW caps their season with a 26-8 record after making the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 36th time in program history. 

Bloomington, Ill. — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team swept Coe 3-0(25-21, 25-11, 25-15) in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Championship Thursday morning. With the win, the Warhawks advance to face either Hanover or Calvin in the NCAA Regional Semifinal scheduled for Friday at 4:30 PM at the Shirk Center. 

UW-Whitewater led the majority of the first set using a four-point, mid-set run to take a 15-11 lead. Emma Bludgen assisted on a pair of blocks while Abbie Dix hammered down a kill to bolster the run. The Warhawks held at least a two-point advantage the rest of the way. 

Emily Lego and Dix had a phenomenal start to the match. The right side – middle duo each hit .417 to combine for 11 of UWW’s 14 kills in set one. Lego led the way with six while Dix added a pair of blocks. 

UWW ran away with set two 25-11 paced by an efficient offensive attack — UW-Whitewater hit .464 as a team in the set. This time it was the outsides, Bludgen and Gaby DiMotto, with half of the Warhawk kills in the set. Delaney Ward came in late in the set and pounded down a pair of kills for the Warhawks’ final points of the set. 

Five consecutive kills for UWW in set three opened up a 15-10 Warhawk lead and forced a Kohawk timeout. After another run of kills from Dix, Aubrie Krzus and Amanda Hillmann, UWW’s lead grew to 21-12 as Coe called their final timeout of the match. UW-Whitewater never looked back, closing out the set and the match to punch their ticket to the semifinal. 

UW-Whitewater’s offense was efficient hitting .371 bolstered by a .500 attack percentage in the third set. UWW tallied just eight attack errors in the entire match. Lego hit .417 in the match with 12 kills. Dix had her way at the net hammering down 11 kills without a single attack error (.524 attack percentage) while adding five blocks. 

Krzus ran the offense setting up Warhawk hitters for 33 assists, adding five kills and four blocks. Defensively, Kylee Altendorf and Natalie Lawton shared team-high dig honors with 11 each. 

Friday’s semifinal match marks the fifth consecutive NCAA Second Round appearance for the Warhawks. 

Columbus beat Whitewater 63-24 in a non-conference girls’ basketball game on Thursday, November 20. Whitewater was led by Paige Kollwelter with seven points, while Emery Kachel and Alondra Verduzco had six each. Columbus was led by three girls in double digits. The Whippets will travel to Orfordville to play a varsity only game against the Parkview Vikings at 6:30 pm Friday night.

Information Submitted by Mike Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
dowmi01@wwusd.org