The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team lost its first conference match 3-1 to an aggressive University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh team in Oshkosh Sept. 20.

All three sets were kept close (25-20, 25-21, 25-22), but in the end, it was the Pioneers’ mental errors which mostly affected the outcome of the night.

Even with a tough defensive stance from UW-Oshkosh, Pioneer Jennifer Schmidt, a sophomore transfer student from the University of Minnesota-Morris, was able to lead the offensive attack with a career-high 16 total kills.

“I thought they were pretty scrappy.  They went for every ball and we just didn’t have the fire.  Eleven service errors had a big impact and it killed the vibe, and killed the momentum of the game,” Schmidt said.

Since transferring to UW-Platteville, Schmidt has racked up a total of 152 kills, second only to sophomore Leeann Mizgalski (159), 3.17 kills per set, 458 total attacks and a .810 serving percentage.
Schmidt said she has mostly enjoyed the atmosphere surrounding the Pioneers’ volleyball program.

“The team chemistry is great.  The girls are very nice.  The coaches are very helping and positive, which helps.  The environment, as a whole, is pretty neat.  They’re all fun girls to be around,” Schmidt said.

Defensively, the Pioneers were anchored by freshman Lindsey Decker who led the team with 24 total digs.

Although the defensive effort by Decker stood out, it was not enough to hold off a potent and well-executed UW-Oshkosh offense.

“They went on a streak where we weren’t able to stop them right away,” Decker said.

UW-Platteville held leads late in almost each set, and the victory in the second set seemed to bring momentum to the Pioneers, but they were still unable to close out the final two sets against the Titans’ efficient attack.

“Physically we had a very good game.  Mentally we had some slips that resulted in runs for Oshkosh.  If we had eliminated those runs, we could have come out victorious,” Senior middle hitter and three-time all-WIAC selection Stephanie Kirchner said.

Despite the loss to start the conference season, the Pioneers know what to expect from the other rival schools in the WIAC.

“Playing in the WIAC, you can’t afford to have bad games.  You need to be mentally prepared for every game.  As a team, our skills are up there with the best in the conference.  It’s just right now being confident in ourselves and going there and getting that W,” Kirchner said.

After a weekend tournament in Wheaton, Ill., the Pioneers return home for a Tuesday night match against St. Ambrose, Oct. 3. The match, known as “Yell Night”, is part of the Homecoming festivities on UW-Platteville’s campus.