The UW-Whitewater women's volleyball team won both of their matches at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational Saturday to go undefeated on the weekend. On Saturday the Warhawks faced off against Illinois College (0-7) in their first match of the day and defeated the Lady Blues 3-0 (30-15, 30-23, 30-13). In their second match the Warhawks matched up against Blackburn College (1-6) and walked away with another 3-0 (30-12, 30-14, 30-17) victory. The Saturday wins improved the Warhawks overall record to 8-1. Five of their eight victories this season have come on three game shutouts.
In the morning match the Warhawks were able to play all of their players on their way to victory. Kristina Conlin (Williams Bay/Williams Bay) (sophomore, Williams Bay) was the only Warhawk to record double figures in any statistical column, except assists, when she notched eleven digs in the match. Contributing to a balanced offensive attack for UW-W, were Kelly Annen (Madison/West) (junior, Madison/West), Kelly Sorensen (Madison/Memorial) (sophomore, Madison/Memorial), Abby Schultz (Appleton/Kimberly) (senior, Appleton/Kimberly), Rebekah Nelson (Delavan/Williams Bay) (senior, Delavan/Williams Bay), Melissa Zuleger (Little Chute/Little Chute) (sophomore, Little Chute), and Lexi Algrim (Roscoe, IL/Hononegah) (junior, Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah).
The afternoon match again allowed head coach Stacy Boudreau the opportunity to get all of the Warhawk players some game action. A balanced defense and offense would again prove to be the keys to the Warhawk victory. Stacy Karls (Dane/Lodi) (freshman, Lodi) led the way with eight digs while teammate Steph Smithback (Edgerton/Edgerton) (sophomore, Edgerton) recorded seven. Offensively it was Zuleger pounding down nine kills to lead the Warhawks.
These two matches concluded play at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational. For the tournament the Warhawks were led by Conlin, seven service aces and thirty-eight digs; Schultz, eighteen digs and twenty-three kills; and Lazotte, one hundred five assists and twenty-two digs.
The Warhawks' next action takes place on September 14-15 when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri to compete in the Teri Clemens Invitational at Washington University. The tournament features four teams, ranked in the top six in the country: #1 Juniata College, #3 UW-Whitewater, #4 Washington University (Mo.), and #6 University of La Verne. It was Juniata College that UW-Whitewater defeated for the 2005 Division III National Championship. Juniata has, however, won two of the last three Division III National Championships (2006, 2004). Washington University has a rich volleyball tradition as well boasting eight national championships of their own (2003, 1991-96, 1989). The University of La Verne has also won two national championships, most recently in 2001.
For additional information:
Stacy Boudreau, UW-W coach, 262-472-1144
UW-W volleyball web site: www.uww.edu/athletics/wvolleyball
