STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team swept UW-Oshkosh 3-0 (25-16, 28-26, 25-22) in Stevens Point Friday evening to advance to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship match. The Warhawks will face the winner of UW-Stevens Point and UW-River Falls Saturday at 2:30 in the title match. The winner of the WIAC Championship received the league's automatic bid into the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship. 

UW-Whitewater jumped out to a 12-5 lead in set one to force an Oshkosh timeout. The Warhawks extended the lead to 21-12 and sophomore outside Lauren Pfeifer (Fort Atkinson/Fort Atkinson) put the finishing touches on the set with a kill to give UW-Whitewater the 25-16 set one victory.

Set two opened with the Titans gaining momentum with a 6-3 lead when UW-Whitewater called a timeout. The Warhawks battled back to knot the score 10-10. A 9-5 UW-Whitewater run gave the Warhawks the lead and a cushion but the Titans continued to fight. With the score tied 22-22, an Ariel Feiertag (Brown Deer/Brown Deer) kill and big block from Kristen Ruchti (Brodhead/Brodhead) and Pfeifer made it 24-22 UW-Whitewater. 

UW-Oshkosh scored the next two points and finally on the sixth set point, a Titan hitter went up from the right side, the Oshkosh bench called for a touch but the referee signaled out of bounds, point UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks took the 28-26 win and a 2-0 advantage in the match. 

The third set played out similarly to the first. The Warhawks jumped out to a 16-9 lead. UW-Whitewater extended the lead to 21-13 but Oshkosh put together a 7-1 run to make the score 22-20. 

Jessica Sabey (Merrill/Merrill) stopped the run with a kill to make it 23-20. The teams traded points with Pfeifer and Feiertag recording the final two points for UW-Whitewater to seal the 3-0 sweep.

The Warhawks hit .264 hammering down 19 and 20 kills in the first two sets respectively. UW-Whitewater totaled 51 kills while the Warhawk defense held the Titans to an attack percentage of .146 and just 36 kills. 

Feiertag led all hitters with 12 kills in 25 attempts while committing just one error, a hitting percentage of .440. Sabey added 10 kills with Pfeifer and Ruchti posting nine a piece. 

Senior setter Kim Frei (West Bend/West Bend West) spread the wealth with 41 assists and added two aces from the service line. 

Defensively, Ruchti led all players with five blocks including one solo and four assisted. Pfeifer teamed up on three blocks while Toon registered three solos. In the backcourt, four Warhawks notched double digit digs led by senior libero Kelsey Nobilio (Johnsburg, IL/Johnsburg) with 14. Junior defensively specialist Jaclyn Krizka (Roscoe, IL/Hononegah) posted 12, Pfeifer added 11 and Tessa Weber (Pleasant Prairie/Tremper) recorded 10.