Bloomington, Ill. - The 2025 campaign for UW-Whitewater volleyball came to a close in the second round of the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship Friday evening. The Warhawks fell to Calvin in four sets 27-29, 25-12, 23-25, 18-25.
The Warhawks got on top early with a kill from
Abbie Dix (Brodhead, Wis./Brodhead) followed by back-to-back aces from
Kyanne Wusterbarth (Oconto, Wis./Oconto). A Calvin miscue made it 4-0 UWW. The Knights responded eventually tying the set 8-8. The teams traded small runs with Calvin grabbing their first lead 14-15. Head Coach
Stacy Boudreau called her first timeout of the set one point later.
On the other side of the break, the Knights were able to build a three-point margin, 15-18, when the Warhawks put together a 5-1 run to reclaim the lead 20-19 and force a Knight timeout. Dix and
Gaby DiMotto (New Berlin, Wis./West) registered kills while
Kylee Altendorf (West Bend, Wis./West) and
Aubrie Krzus (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) added aces in the run that was capped by an
Amanda Hillmann (Cedarburg, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and
Emily Lego (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls) block.
The squads traded points out of the timeout until
Emma Bludgen (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) hammered down a kill to give UWW a 23-22 advantage and force Calvin's second timeout of the set. The Knights got the first two points out of the break to push set point as Coach Boudreau signaled for timeout. Bludgen tipped over the block for a kill to knot the set 24-24. After multiple set points, a deep Knight serve had the Warhawk bench calling out but the line judge signaling in for the 27-29 final.
UW-Whitewater responded in a big way, absolutely dominating set two for a 25-12 win. The Warhawks had their way offensively pounding down 14 kills with a team attack percentage of .387 in the set. Three blocks and three aces bolstered UWW in the set and swung all of the momentum to the Warhawks.
Set three was much like the first - a back-and-forth battle with the teams trading leads but the Knights coming out on top 23-25.
UWW struggled to rebound offensively as the Knight defense picked up in the final set. Calvin tallied eight total blocks in set four leading to the 25-18 final score.
Dix paced the UWW offense and defense at the net with 13 kills and 6 blocks. Bludgen joined Dix in double digits with 10 kills adding 10 digs, 3 aces and a block. Krzus registered 35 assists and tallied 8 kills and 4 blocks.
UWW caps their season with a 26-8 record after making the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 36th time in program history.
