UW-Whitewater, 30-4, will meet UW-Platteville, 24-11, for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon at 2:30 in Williams Center. Whitewater defeated UW-La Crosse 3-0 and Platteville topped UW-Eau Claire 3-1 Friday evening in the tourney semi-finals. The Whitewater-Platteville title match will be preceded at 12:00 by the third place match between UW-La Crosse, 23-9, and UW-Eau Claire, 22-9.
In the first match of the evening UW-Platteville, seeded seventh in the tournament, scored their second upset of the tourney with a 3-1 win over third seed UW-Eau Claire 3-1 (32-30, 30-28, 27-30, 30-24). The Pioneers knocked off second seed UW-Oshkosh Tuesday in the first round.
Platteville was led by Lisa Bell (so, Dyersville, IA), with 15 kills, and Melissa Hillebrand (fr, Davenport, IA), with 14. Rochelle Ripp (jr, Lodi) contributed 29 digs, Stephanie Tronnes (so, Edgerton) had seven blocks (one solo), and Kelly Laschinger (sr, Verona) was credited with 44 assists. The Blugolds' Abby Freiborg (jr, Sacred Heart, MN) had 17 kills and a game-high 30 digs, and teammate Rachel Ver Voort (fr, Madison/Middleton) also had 17 kills. Katie Fox (jr, Chippewa Falls) had eight blocks (all assisted), and Emily Haese (jr, Mishicot) led both teams with 54 assists.
Eau Claire hit .206 to Platteville's .120, but the Blugolds had eleven ball-handling errors to two for the Pioneers, and UW-P had only two service errors to eight for UW-EC.
Abby Schultz (sr, Appleton/Kimberly) led the Warhawks with a game high 17 kills and a .385 hjtting percentage. Schultz added a game high 22 digs. Carley Polk (sr, Dousman/Mukwonago) chipped in with ten kills and a .321 hitting percentage. Kate Lazotte (sr, Stoughton) had 44 assists. The Eagles were led by Amber Schoonover’s (jr, Tomah) ten kills, with Katelyn Carlson (sr, Rochester, MN) chipping in with 19 digs and Samantha Dries (sr, Pine Island, MN) 24 assists.
Whitewater’s .385 hitting percentage tied the season high equaled October 26 against Edgewood College. La Crosse hit .143.
The winner of the WIAC Tournament earns the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship Tournament. The winner will advance to a regional hosted by Carthage College in Kenosha Thursday-Saturday, November 8-10. The winners of eight regionals will meet for the NCAA III Championship November 15-17 at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois.
For additional information:
WIAC volleyball site
NCAA regional site
NCAA volleyball site
