The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women’s volleyball team defeated the Edgewood Eagles 3-0 Wednesday, Oct. 24.
The first set was a close one. UW-Platteville scored the first point of the night, but struggled to keep the ball in bounds, especially on serves.
Senior Samantha Rampart contributed an aggressive kill to up the score, while junior Rachel Oldenburg completed a block to tie at 10-10.
After four unsuccessful attempts to close their blocks, UW-Platteville called the first timeout. The set continued neck and neck, tying up four times, until freshman Ashley Lomonaco emerged with a kill to win the set 29-27.
The Pioneers began set two with strong teamwork. Junior Stephanie Kirchner scored with a kill– just one of the 11 she made throughout the night– and obtained an 8-4 lead over the Eagles.
Edgewood subsequently called their first timeout, which was followed up by powerful blocks by Kirchner and freshman Katie O’Malley. UW-Platteville won the set at 25-17.
Early in set three, the Pioneers fell short to Edgewood’s many hard hits and gave up five consecutive points. UW-Platteville’s front row struggled to complete plays, while as a team they were unable to close their blocks.
UW-Platteville called the first timeout of the set. Immediately following the timeout, the Pioneers gained their first point when Edgewood’s serve hit the net.
UW-Platteville used momentum from good plays by sophomore Haley Jansen and another kill by Kirchner to catch up, still trailing Edgewood 10-15.
Kirchner came back with yet another kill to tie the set up 21-21. Edgewood began to show weakness with the blocks, and UW-Platteville used this to their advantage.
Rampart successfully completed three tough digs in the clutch as the Pioneers beat Edgewood 26-24.
Despite the strong performance against Edgewood, the Pioneers struggled in their games Friday and Saturday against University of Wisconsin-Superior and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The Pioneers lost five set matches to each opponent.
Deb Schulman’s squad finished the year 21-12, but a 2-6 record in the WIAC caused the Pioneers to miss the conference tournament.
