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The No. 23 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team looks to build on its already strong season this Thurdsay at 7 p.m. as it hosts UW-River Falls in a semifinal of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (presented by Culver's) at Russell Arena.
 
The No. 1 seeded Warhawks (21-8 overall) earned its league-best 17th WIAC regular season championship with a 6-1 record in conference play. The team is the tournament's No. 1 seed and earned a first-round bye.
 
UW-River Falls (21-12), the tournament's No. 5 seed, punched its ticket to the semifinals Tuesday night with a four-set victory at fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh.
 
No. 3 seed UW-Stevens Point will visit No. 2 UW-Eau Claire in the other semifinal. The winner of Thursday's matches advance to Saturday's tournament final at the highest remaining seed.
 
UW-Whitewater started the 2019 season with five straight wins, including a four-set victory over Carthage, which is currently ranked fourth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Coaches Poll.
 
After splitting four matches at Augsburg (Minn.), including a five-set loss against No. 17 Augsburg and a four-set defeat against No. 15 St. Thomas (Minn.), the Warhawks took two of three at the Wittenberg Fall Classic with impressive wins over nationally-ranked Ohio Northern and perennial contender Heidelberg (Ohio).
 
The trip to Ohio set off a 15-match winning streak for UW-Whitewater that included victories over nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire, regionally-ranked Concordia Wisconsin and a total of six WIAC opponents.
 
The Warhawks enter the postseason on a five-match losing streak, including a three-set loss against regionally-ranked Aurora (Ill.) last Saturday to conclude the regular season.
 
Seniors Rachel Butterfield (Milton, Wis./Milton) and Ashton Doll (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster) lead UW-Whitewater into tournament play.
 
Butterfield, an outside hitter, currently ranks third on the team with 219 kills (2.11 per set) to go along with 45 blocks (0.43 per set). Doll, a middle hitter, leads the league with 119 blocks (1.08 per set) and is fifth in hitting percentage (.260) on her 227 kills (2.06 per set).
 
Other offensive leaders include freshman outside hitter Chloe Buescher (Janesville, Wis./Milton), sophomore outside hitter Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge), sophomore setter KellyAnn Sotiros (New Berlin, Wis./West Allis Hale) and freshman setter Maggie Streckert (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove).
 
Buescher leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference with 309 kills (2.94 per set) and ranks second on the team with 57 blocks (0.55 per set). McNeil enters the postseason with 139 kills (2.17 per set).
 
Sotiros and Streckert own 412 and 370 assists, respectively. Sotiros is averaging 4.29 per set and ranks fifth on the team with 197 digs, while Streckert averages 4.35 assists per set.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Emily Gillen (Richfield, Wis./Slinger) and sophomore setter Paige Manssen (Bull Valley, Ill./McHenry West) have each appeared in more than 20 matches this season. Gillen averages just over one kill per set, and Manssen averages 3.51 assists per set.
 
Defensive specialists Morgan Jensen (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie), Hailey Mackenthun (Webster, Minn./Northfield) and outside hitter Emma Aske (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) lead the defense.
 
Jensen, a freshman, ranks among league leaders in both digs (590 / 5.36 per set) and service aces (39 / 0.35 per set). Mackenthun, a sophomore, is second on the team in both categories (272 digs / 2.54 per set; 35 service aces / 0.33 per set), and Aske, also a sophomore, enters Thursday with 220 digs (2.59 per set) and 20 aces.

UW-Whitewater edged UW-River Falls in five sets back on Oct. 18 in River Falls. Buescher tallied a double-double with 14 kills and 17 digs to lead the Warhawks. Doll posted 11 kills and four blocks, and Jensen registered a team-best 29 digs.
 
The Warhawks seek their 17th WIAC Tournament championship. The program's 16 titles are currently more than the rest of the league combined (15).