Box Score
UW-Whitewater won its third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in four years with a 3-2 (30-21, 24-30, 25-30, 32-30, 15-10) win over UW-Oshkosh at the Kolf Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin Wednesday night.
With the conference championship in hand the Warhawks also earned the number one seed in the WIAC's postseason tournament, which begins Tuesday. The top four teams will host first round games, and the final four teams will advance to the site of the highest remaining seed. Semifinal and final rounds will be played Friday and Saturday, November 2-3. The winner of the WIAC Tournament earns the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship tournament, which begins with regional play Thursday, November 8.
UW-W was led by Kelly Sorenson (OH, so, Madison/Memorial) 18 kills and 21 digs. Rebekah Nelson (Delavan/Williams Bay) (RS, sr, Delavan/Williams Bay) and Abby Schultz (Appleton/Kimberly) (OH, sr, Appleton/Kimberly) added 13 kills each, with Kristina Conlin (Williams Bay/Williams Bay) (L, so, Williams Bay) contributing 28 digs and Kate Lazotte (Stoughton/Stoughton) (S, sr, Stoughton) leading with 54 assists. Lazotte was also credited with seven blocks (all assisted).
Oshkosh had four players in double figures in kills, led by Jacque Ray;s 14. Leah Stumpf had 55 assists, Samantha Schmidt 27 digs, and Kim Vail eight blocks (6 assisted) to lead the Titans.
UW-W hit .221 in the match, UW-O .192. Whitewater had more ball handling errors (nine to two for Oshkosh), but the Warhawks had fewer blocking errors (4-6) and service errors (5-9).
UW-Whitewater, 24-4 overall and 8-0 in the WIAC, is ranked seventh in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III poll. UW-Oshkosh, 27-4 overall and 6-2 in league play, is ninth in the national poll.
The Warhawks have won thirteen WIAC volleyball championships. Nine of those have come in the last twelve years (since 1996).
Prior to WIAC Tournament play, UW-Whitewater will host the Whitewater Invitational III Friday-Saturday, October 26-27. Games are scheduled for 1:00, 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00 Friday, and 9:00, 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00 Saturday. All matches will be played on campus, in the Williams Center volleyball arena and the adjacent Kachel Fieldhouse court.
