The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater captured the program's 17^th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 25-13) win over UW-Stevens Point Saturday night. The Warhawks, the lone program with more than five WIAC Tournament titles, secured its first since 2016 to earn the league's automatic bid into the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament. UWW will make its 29^th appearance in the last 30 seasons and 33^rd in program history next week in regional action. UW-Whitewater will learn where they'll open the national tournament in the selection show Monday afternoon.
 
The Warhawks and Pointers are no strangers to the WIAC Tournament Championship match … UWW has played in nine consecutive title matches while UWSP made their fifth trip since 2013. With storied, and successful histories, it was no surprise the atmosphere in Kris Russell Arena was electric Saturday night.
 
UW-Whitewater's offense was consistent and efficient all night hitting over .230 in the last three sets of the match. The defense was stifling holding the Pointers to a negative attack percentage in both the first and fourth sets.
 
The Pointers scored the first three points of the match before UWW went on a 4-0 run to claim the lead. The teams traded points until UWW was able to find a little cushion 15-11. Another small run had the Warhawks up seven, 20-13. UWSP cut the lead to three, 21-18, but UW-Whitewater scored four of the last six points capped by a Kirsten Anderson (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) kill for the 25-20 first set win.
 
The momentum continued in set two. Tight early on, the Warhawks put together an 11-2 run that gave them a 20-11 advantage. The Pointers didn't fold, hanging in and eventually going on a six-point run to pull within two, 22-20. Anderson and Payton Kuepers (Madison, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) hammered down back-to-back kills to force set point. Still UWSP continued to battle through two set points until a Pointer miscue saw UWW take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
In set three, UW-Whitewater used a few runs to take leads of at least four points on two occasions early on, but once again the Pointers battled back. UW-Stevens Point eventually claimed a 20-18 lead. From there, the squads traded points with the Pointers taking the set 25-23 to force a fourth.
 
The final set was all Warhawks. UWW jumped out to a 16-5 lead in the set and cruised the rest of the way for the 25-13 win and a match victory.
 
Three Warhawk hitters tallied double digit kills. Anderson and Jenna Weinfurt (Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) each registered 12 with Erin McNeil (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) adding 10. Weinfurt also put the pressure on from the service line with four aces. Hannah Proctor (Durand, Ill./Durand) continues to frustrate opposing hitters with her blocking ability. She posted seven blocks Saturday including three solo. Morgan Jensen (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) led all players with 22 digs.
 
UW-Whitewater earned the top seed into the WIAC Tournament after capturing the 18^th regular season conference title in program history with a perfect 7-0 mark. Receiving a first-round bye, the Warhawks swept UW-Platteville Thursday to advance. UW-Stevens Point, the number three seed, topped UW-River Falls in a quarterfinal before topping two-seeded UW-Oshkosh in five sets on their home court to advance to the championship.