Box Score The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team posted a strong offensive performance and fought off three critical set points Saturday in a 25-14, 29-27, 25-20 victory over UW-River Falls in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Kris Russell Volleyball Arena inside the Williams Center.
 
The Warhawks (16-5 overall, 4-0 WIAC) have now won seven consecutive matches and remain alone atop the WIAC standings midway through their conference season.
 
Junior outside hitter Jessica Sabey (Merrill/Merrill) registered 13 kills to lead UW-Whitewater, which hit .300 (51 kills-18 errors-110 attacks) for the contest.
 
Senior right side hitter Ariel Feiertag (Brown Deer/Brown Deer) and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Pfeifer (Fort Atkinson/Fort Atkinson) added 10 kills apiece, while senior middle blocker Kristen Ruchti (Brodhead/Brodhead) contributed with a team-best five blocks to go along with her eight kills. Senior setter Kim Frei (West Bend/West Bend West) totaled 44 assists.
 
Senior libero Kelsey Nobilio (Johnsburg, IL/Johnsburg) led the defense with 20 digs. Pfeifer recorded eight digs.
 
The Falcons (9-12, 3-2) led 5-4 in the first set before the Warhawks took the lead for good with a 4-0 run keyed by two kills and a block from Ruchti. UW-Whitewater took the set going away thanks to late runs on the serves of Pfeifer and Nobilio.
 
UW-River Falls took a 9-6 lead early in the second set, and after the Warhawks tied it at 10-10, the two teams fought back and forth for the remainder of the set.
 
The Falcons had set point three times at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25, but UW-Whitewater brushed off all three set points, all on kills by Sabey. After UW-River Falls held off the Warhawks' set point to make it 27-27, UW-Whitewater took the final two points of the set to steal the momentum back. Pfeifer provided the exclamation point with a kill to end the set.
 
With the third set tied at 14-14, the Warhawks jumped ahead on a 3-0 spurt and never surrendered their lead.
 
UW-Whitewater returns to action Friday and Saturday with non-conference matches in Iowa. The Warhawks visit Dubuque on Friday for contests at 5 and 7 p.m. against Loras and Dubuque, respectively. The team continues its trip Saturday with a pair of matches at Coe.