WHITEWATER, Wis. -- The UW-Whitewater volleyball team topped Lakeland 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21) Wednesday night in Russell Arena. The Warhawks recognized their four seniors prior to the match -
Emily Lego (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls),
Kameron Brand (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon),
Aubrie Krzus (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) and
Abbie Dix (Brodhead, Wis./Brodhead).
Dix had a monster game - the best match of her career offensively - hammering down 24 kills in 34 attempts while hitting .588 in the contest. Her 24 kills are the most for a Warhawk middle in a single match in program history and fourth-most for any player in the modern scoring era. And she set the tone early...
In the first set, Dix was a perfect 5-for-5 with five kills in five attempts as UWW cruised to a 1-0 lead in the match.
In set two, the Muskies jumped out to an early lead, but the Warhawks battled back to tie the set 22-22. Lakeland was able to tally the next three to even the match 1-1. Dix added eight kills to her tally in the second set. Fellow middle
Amanda Hillmann (Cedarburg, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) put on a blocking clinic with five as UWW posted eight total blocks in the set.
The third set was all Whitewater from the first serve. The Warhawks led by 10 at the technical timeout and cruised the rest of the way. Dix and Krzus were stellar in the set combining for nine kills in 15 attempts without an attack error. The duo also teamed up on a block.
After a back-and-forth start to set four, UWW put together a small run to open up a four-point advantage on Dix's ace, 10-6. From there, the UWW lead hovered between three and five the rest of the way. True to form, the final point came from a Dix kill, her sixth of the set. Meanwhile,
Penny Schell (Cross Plains, Wis./St. Ambrose Academy) hammered down four kills in eight attempts to lead the Warhawks on the outside.
Dix ended with 24 of UWW's 57 kills in the match. Krzus and Hillmann recorded eight each. Krzus added 43 assists, 13 digs, three aces and three blocks. Hillmann posted a team-high six blocks in the match.
Natalie Powers (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) registered four of the Warhawks' 13 aces in the match while pacing UWW defensively with 25 digs.
Natalie Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill./IC Catholic Prep) joined her in double figures with 15.
UW-Whitewater will wrap up the regular season and WIAC slate Friday at Oshkosh at 7 PM. The Warhawk/Titan match along with two other league matchups Friday will determine seeding for the conference tournament.
