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.
