UW-Whitewater lost to host UW-Eau Claire 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19) Friday night in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game in Eau Claire. UW-W will face UW-La Crosse, a 3-2 loser to UW-Oshkosh in Friday's other semifinal, in the third place match Saturday at noon in Eau Claire.
box score
Eau Claire led most of the first game, with UW-W taking its first lead at 16-15 in the midst of a four point run. The Warhawks scored five of the last six points of the match to win. In game two Whitewater led 10-5, but UW-EC tied it 12-12, then used a 6-0 run to go ahead 20-15. With EC at game point, 24-18, UW-W scored five straight to pull within one, 24-23, but the Blugolds closed out the game to even the match at one game apiece. Whitewater took an early 8-3 lead in game three and held on to that margin through 17-10. UW-EC used two four-point bursts to pull within 23-20, and then scored five straight to go up 2-1. Whitewater again had a lead in game four, including 9-6, but five Blugold points in a row gave them the lead for good.
Liz Benzschawel led UW-W with 14 kills and a .458 hitting percentage. Kelly Sorensen added 11 kills and 12 digs. Alyssa Bauer (Naperville, IL/Central) and Alyse Karls led UW-W with 13 digs apiece, and Christina DeGroot set up 45 assists, her second highest total of the season. Eau Claire had three players with double figure kills, led by Abby Freiborg's 13. Emily Haese had 44 assists and 14 digs, and Freiborg also led both teams with 16 digs. EC hit .259 and Whitewater .218.
UW-W defeated UW-EC, in Eau Claire, 3-1 October 18 during the WIAC regular season. In a role reversal, UW-W came back to win that match after losing the first game, just as EC did Friday night.
UW-W is 29-8 and ranked eleventh in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III poll. UW-Oshkosh, 36-2 and regular season co-champions with Eau Claire, will meet the Blugolds at 2:30 for the WIAC tourney crown. Oshkosh is ranked seventh by the AVCA, and UW-EC is 23-10. La Crosse will take a 26-11 record in to Saturday's match versus Whitewater.
The winner of the WIAC Tournament receives the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship tournament, which begins play next week. In years past other WIAC teams have received at-large berths in the NCAA III tournament.
For additional information: Stacy Boudreau
