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2018 WIAC Volleyball Championship Web Page
The No. 18 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team hosts UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship Presented by Culver's this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Russell Arena.
Tickets for the contest are $5 per adult, $3 for children ages 4-17 and seniors above age 62 and free for students of WIAC schools or children 3 years old and younger.
Thursday's match will be broadcast live by UWW-TV on channel 100.1 on campus, channel 989 for Spectrum customers in the Whitewater area and
online.
The Warhawks (23-6 overall) finished second in the WIAC regular season standings to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
The Titans (17-14), the tournament's No. 6 seed, posted a four-set victory at third-seeded UW-La Crosse in Tuesday's first-round match.
The winner of Thursday's match advances to the championship match to face either No. 1 seed UW-Eau Claire or fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point, a 3-1 winner over UW-Stout on Tuesday. The highest seed remaining will host the final match.
UW-Whitewater is ranked fourth in the NCAA Midwest Regional rankings entering postseason play. The team has won three of its last four matches, including victories over No. 13 Hope (Mich.) on Oct. 20 and wins over UW-La Crosse and regionally ranked Concordia Wisconsin.
The Warhawks finished with a 6-1 record against WIAC opponents during the regular season and seek their second win of the year over the Titans. UW-Whitewater hit .283 and held UW-Oshkosh to a .049 hitting percentage in a 25-18, 25-23, 25-20 triumph on Sept. 26 at Russell Arena.
The Warhawks' defense up front has been particularly impressive entering Thursday's match. The team leads the conference in both opponents' hitting percentage (.129) and blocks (2.29 per set).
Junior middle hitter
Ashton Doll (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster) owns a conference-best 115 blocks and is second in the league with 1.14 blocks per set. She is joined up front by senior middle hitter
Kelley Berk (Cedarburg, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels), who ranks third in the WIAC with 0.97 blocks per set.
Senior
Amanda Spera (Antioch, Ill./Antioch), junior
Rachel Butterfield (Milton, Wis./Milton), freshmen
Emma Aske (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) and
Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) surround Doll and Berk on either side up front.
McNeil leads the team and ranks among the top 10 in the conference in kills (245 / 2.78 per set) and points (273.5 / 3.11 per set). Butterfield ranks sixth in the WIAC with a team-best .257 hitting percentage on her 235 kills (2.28 per set), and Aske ranks third on the team in kills (196 / 2.00) and is among league leaders in service aces (28 / 0.29 per set). Spera ranks third on the team with 2.24 kills per set and is hitting a .209 entering the postseason.
Freshmen setters
Paige Manssen (Bull Valley, Ill./McHenry West) and
KellyAnn Sotiros (New Berlin, Wis./West Allis Hale) run the offense for UW-Whitewater. Sotiros ranks fifth in the WIAC in assists per set (5.98) and owns a conference-best 0.57 service aces per set (51 total). Manssen averages 4.60 assists per set and is fourth on the team with 26 service aces.
Senior
Brittany Robinson (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) and junior
Elizabeth Tworek (Lake Zurich, Ill./Carmel Catholic) comprise the Warhawks' back row. Robinson leads the WIAC with 5.83 digs per set and is third in the league with 606 total digs, and enters Thursday with 29 service aces, good for second on the team.
Tworek ranks fourth on the team with 177 digs (1.72 per set) and tied for fifth in service aces (15).
With a victory Thursday, UW-Whitewater would earn its sixth straight trip to the WIAC Tournament championship match.
The winner of the WIAC Tournament title earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, which begins next week.
