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.
