The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich., Thursday afternoon to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This is their 26th appearance in the last 27 tournaments.
The No. 18 Warhawks (25-7) started their 30th overall NCAA Tournament with a victory over No. 20 Ohio Northern 25-17, 25-22, 26-24.
The teams were neck and neck at 14 apiece midway through the first set until the Warhawks went on an 11-3 run to claim the set 25-17. The Warhawks continued to be hot on offense, with a 6-1 run lifting them to an early 10-4 lead in the second set. Ohio Northern clawed away at the lead late with an 8-4 run, but the Warhawks hung on 25-22.
The Warhawks jumped out early in the third set with an 8-2 run. Ohio Northern (22-8) chipped down the Warhawk advantage 15-14 later on and pushed ahead with a 3-0 run. The Warhawks found themselves down 24-21 late, but a 5-0 run propelled a comeback 26-24 set victory to claim the match
Senior middle hitter
Kelley Berk (Cedarburg, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels) led all Warhawks with 12 kills, while freshman outside hitter
Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), junior middle hitter
Ashton Doll (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster) and junior outside hitter
Rachel Butterfield (Milton, Wis./Milton) each posted 10 kills.
Berk also hit .300 on the evening and tallied three blocks. Doll had a team-leading seven blocks while McNeil added four.
Senior libero
Brittany Robinson (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) led the Warhawks with 33 digs. Freshman outside hitter
Emma Aske (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) contributed 19 digs, while freshman setter
KellyAnn Sotiros (New Berlin, Wis./West Allis Hale) had 18 of her own.
Sotiros posted 29 assists for a double-double, while freshman setter
Paige Manssen (Bull Valley, Ill./McHenry West) had 19.
The Warhawks will have a rematch with No. 1 Calvin in the second round of regional play tomorrow at 7 p.m. Central Time. The Warhawks lost the regular season meeting to Calvin at the Elmhurst Invitational.
