By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information

Box Score || Whitewater, Wis. – The No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women’s volleyball team took down No. 16 Millikin University 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16) in Russell Arena Friday evening. The Warhawks, 9-0, have won four matches against top 25 opponents so far this season.

Two words that describe tonight’s thriller in Russell — resilience and relentless. UWW trailed much of the first set as the Big Blue strung together a few runs to build a 17-11 advantage. The Warhawks never quit battling back to within four, 22-18, when an Abbie Dix kill sparked a phenomenal run. With Jenna Weinfurt at the service line, UW-Whitewater rattled off six straight. The powerful outside put the finishing touches on opener serving set point and then tallying the kill from the back row to give UWW a 1-0 lead. 

A five-point run in set two – once again with Weinfurt serving – gave the Warhawks a 13-9 lead. UW-Whitewater held the margin until late in the set when Millikin turned the tables and went on a run of their own. With UWW leading 23-17, the Big Blue rattled off five consecutive to pull within one, 23-22. Alayna Jansky hammered down a kill to force set point. Following a Warhawk miscue from the service line, Jansky put set two away with another kill, her eighth of the second set. 

The squads traded the lead 30 times in set three. Similar to the first two, the end of the set was a battle. Millikin held a 23-21 lead before the Warhawks came back to tie it off of a Weinfurt kill and Big Blue attack error. However, MU responded with a pair of kills to extend the match to a fourth set. 

UW-Whitewater ran away with the fourth set. Ally Longden served a long run mid set that had the Warhawks enjoying a 16-8 advantage. UWW extended the gap to 22-13 and traded points the rest of the way for the win. Weinfurt sealed the deal with the final kill of the contest. 

Jansky led all players with 24 kills on 54 attempts. She added 13 digs in the match. Weinfurt registered 15 kills while adding a pair of aces and 11 digs. Dix joined the outsides in double digits with 10 kills adding a match-high six assist blocks. 

Aubrie Krzus posted 49 assists while Jaedynn Evans led UWW with 19 digs in the four-setter. 

The Warhawks will wrap up play in the second UW-Whitewater Invitational of the season Saturday against Concordia University (Wisconsin) at 2 p.m. 

On Thursday, September 12, the Whippet Volleyball Program traveled to Delavan-Darien to open up conference play. The Whippets fell short in the match-up at all three levels but battled until the end. Varsity scores for the match were 17-25, 9-25, 26-28.

The Whippets were led by:

• Calli Grosinske with 7 kills and 14 assists
• Ella Spear with 17 digs
• Zoe Kohl with 2 aces

The Whippets are back in action this weekend in Dodgeland for a tournament and then have their first home matches on Tuesday, September 17 against Monroe and Thursday, September 19 against Jefferson.

Come out and support your Whippet Volleyball Program. 

Article Submitted by Caitlin Dowden
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
dowca01@wwusd.org
Photo courtesy of Bob Mischka

On Tuesday, September 10, the Whippet Swim Team took on Edgerton/Evansville in their first conference dual meet of the season. 

The Whippets put up a close battle against Edgerton/Evansville by putting up some impressive times. Here are some highlights from the night:

In the 200 Medley Relay, Makayla Bazeley, Emerson Dunham, Charlotte Hajewski, and Maggie Maas beat out the rest of the competition by 5 seconds. 

In the 50 Freestyle, Laken DePorter, Lucy Davis, and Georgia Esch all posted best times.

Charlotte Hajewski swam a lifetime best of 1:18.26 in the 100 Butterfly. And a quick shout out to Marijose Verduzco for competing in the 100 Butterfly for the first time. 

In the 100 Freestyle, Maggie Maas, Maya Davis, Laken DePorter, and Caitlin Alford all posted best times. Maya Davis had an impressive 10 second time drop which puts her under 1:30. Way to go! 

In the 500 Freestyle, Georgia Esch went a lifetime best time of 7:33.78. Emerson Dunham went a season best time of 6:17.82. And finally, we were so excited to see Zoe Zei back competing in the 500! 

Marijose Verduzco went a lifetime best in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:34.40. 

Makayla Bazeley improved in the 100 Breaststroke by going a time of 1:17.20. This secures her 8th place spot in the Whippet Top 10 list. 

The Whippets are back in action on Saturday, September 14, at the Elk Invite in Elkhorn. We hope to see more red in the crowd cheering on our team!

Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
ReynoldsSM07@uww.edu