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The No. 23 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team punched its ticket to its seventh straight conference tournament final Thursday night with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-16 triumph over UW-River Falls in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (presented by Culver's) at Russell Arena.
The top-seeded Warhawks (22-8 overall) will host third-seeded UW-Stevens Point this Saturday at 7 p.m. for the tournament title and league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, which begins next week. The Pointers earned their spot with a 3-1 victory at UW-Eau Claire in the other semifinal.
UW-Whitewater took early leads over UW-River Falls (22-13) in each of Thursday's three sets and finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .287 while holding the Falcons to .086.
Senior middle hitter
Ashton Doll (Lancaster, Wis./Lancaster) tallied 10 kills on a .471 hitting percentage and added eight blocks, while freshman outside hitter
Chloe Buescher (Janesville, Wis./Milton) finished with nine kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter
Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) posted nine kills, and senior outside hitter
Rachel Butterfield (Milton, Wis./Milton) collected eight kills, three digs and two blocks. Freshman setter
Maggie Streckert (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) totaled 23 assists, two kills and four blocks.
Freshman libero
Morgan Jensen (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) led the back row with 15 digs. Sophomore outside hitte
Emma Aske (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) registered 11 digs, and sophomore setter
KellyAnn Sotiros (New Berlin, Wis./West Allis Hale) recorded eight digs to go along with her 13 assists.
The Warhawks jumped out to a 7-2 advantage in the first set and never trailed in the period. UW-River Falls closed to 11-10 midway through, but UW-Whitewater rallied for six of the next seven points to regain control. The Warhawks finished the set on a 6-0 run.
UW-Whitewater led 10-5 in the second set, but the Falcons chipped away and eventually ran off five straight points to take a 16-15 advantage. The two teams exchanged points before the Warhawks closed with four consecutive points, including two kills by Doll and a service ace by sophomore defensive specialist
Hailey Mackenthun (Webster, Minn./Northfield).
UW-Whitewater jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the third and never trailed in the set.
Saturday's match will be the second match between the Warhawks and Pointers in the last eight days. UW-Stevens Point edged UW-Whitewater in five sets last Friday at Russell Arena.
