WHITEWATER, Wis. — UW-Whitewater volleyball (11-8, 3-2 WIAC) swept UW-Platteville (16-6, 3-2 WIAC) 3-0 Wednesday. The Warhawks won 25-15, 25-18, 25-18. UWW hit .380 with 43 kills and nine service aces, while holding the Pioneers to a .161 hitting percentage.
Early in the first, UWW scored seven of eight to take a 12-4 lead. During that run,
Aubrie Krzus (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) registered an ace while
Gaby DiMotto (New Berlin, Wis./West) pounded down consecutive kills. Krzus added kills on the Warhawks' final two points of the set to give UWW the 1-0 advantage in the match.
UW-Whitewater created separation in the second set with four straight points on Krzus' serve, moving from a 16-13 edge to 20-13 behind kills by
Claire Dillon (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and
Amanda Hillmann (Cedarburg, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) along with a Krzus service ace. UWW stayed in front from there and finished the set 25-18 on another Krzus kill.
Krzus provided an early highlight in the third set - her assist to DiMotto for the first point of the set marked the 4,000th assist of her career. Krzus is just the second Warhawk setter to reach the 4,000 assist milestone in the modern scoring era.
That play sparked a 6-0 run for UWW and the Warhawks never looked back taking the set 25-18.
Krzus was phenomenal at the net with six kills in eight attempts without an attack error (.750 attack percentage). She added 28 assists, a pair of aces, three blocks and 11 digs to round out the double-double.
Dillon and DiMotto hammered down 13 kills each on the outside. DiMotto added a two aces and tallied the double-double with 11 digs. Hillmann was efficient at the net hitting .455 with five kills while pacing the Warhawk defense at the net with four blocks.
Natalie Powers (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) led UWW in the digs column with 14.
UW-Whitewater will host the Dig Panici Classic Friday-Saturday in Russell Arena. The Warhawks open the invite against North Central at 2:30 Friday followed by a 7 PM matchup against Gustavus Adolphus. UWW will honor former Warhawk volleyball player Lisa Panici prior to the night match Friday. UWW wraps up the invite against Dubuque at 3 PM Saturday.
