BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The #16 Warhawks lost to #6 Illinois Wesleyan 3-1 on Wednesday, falling by set scores of 19-25, 16-25, 25-23, 17-25.
UW-Whitewater built a 12-5 lead in the first set, getting an
Addie Bruns (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) service ace and kills from
Aubrie Krzus (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South),
Emily Lego (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls),
Gaby DiMotto (New Berlin, Wis./West) and
Penny Schell (Cross Plains, Wis./St. Ambrose Academy) in the opening stretch. IWU answered with nine straight points to go ahead 14-12, but UW-Whitewater came back to tie the set at 17-17 and again at 18-18 behind kills from
Abbie Dix (Brodhead, Wis./Brodhead) and DiMotto. The Titans scored the final five points to take the set 25-19.
UW-Whitewater could not sustain its early response in the second set, falling behind 6-2 before getting back within 7-6 on a Krzus kill, a Dix kill set by Bruns, and a DiMotto service ace. Illinois Wesleyan kept the Warhawks from drawing even the rest of the set and closed it out 25-16, despite late kills from Krzus and Dix.
The Warhawks turned a 21-19 deficit into a 24-21 lead in the third set, with Dix getting the sideout before
Kylee Altendorf (West Bend, Wis./West) served four straight points, including an ace. After Illinois Wesleyan pulled back within 24-23,
Sam Buss (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) finished the set with a kill from Krzus for a 25-23 UW-Whitewater win.
The Titans pulled away late to take set four 25-17 after scoring seven of the final eight points.
Dix finished with 17 kills, hit .455, and added three blocks. Krzus recorded 33 assists and added seven kills, eight digs and one block.
Delaney Ward (Kaukauna, Wis./Kaukauna) converted seven kills on 11 attacks for a .545 hitting percentage and added three blocks.
Natalie Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill./IC Catholic Prep) and
Natalie Powers (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) held down the back row defense combining for 27 digs in the match.
Wednesday's contest was the first during an extended road trip for UWW. The Warhawks will head directly from Bloomington, Illinois to Michigan for an invite hosted by Calvin. UW-Whitewater is slated to take on Otterbein, #15 Calvin and Colorado College in Grand Rapids Friday and Saturday.
