he University of Wisconsin-Platteville women’s volleyball team posted two shut out wins, sweeping opponents University of Dubuque (25-20, 25-17, 25-16) and Simpson College (25-17, 25-10, 25-8) at Williams Fieldhouse.

After a tough loss to University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point last Wednesday, the Pioneers rallied to play what head coach Deb Schulman believes is the best offensive volleyball the team has played all year.

“Our offense was probably the best we’ve had all season. We didn’t make a lot of errors and it was just a fun day. Every week our offensive power has been improving,” Schulman said.

The only glimpse of hope the Dubuque Spartans had seen was a 16-16 tie in the first set, but the Pioneers were able to keep their foot on the offensive gas and cruise to a 25-20 victory.

From that point on, the Pioneers were on a roll.

They won the next two sets with a huge, offensive effort from freshman middle hitter Lidia Frias, who tallied a game-high 12 kills.

“We stayed consistent. Everything was working together all at once,” Frias said. “I was trying to play more in the smart sense rather than just trying to get the kill. I think that helps a lot; plus, we’re trusting each other a lot more.”

Frias, a freshman from Iola, has racked up 49 kills in the last five games and is fourth on the team in total kills.

“She’s improved tremendously throughout the year. [While] watching her in club ball when we were recruiting her, we saw all the things she could do. When she came in she was a little tentative, and right now she’s playing great and we’re very pleased,” Schulman said of Frias.

After an hour or so break from volleyball, during which time some of the Pioneer team members participated in audience-involved games, the players stepped back onto the court with a purpose.

The Pioneers peaked in their three, quick sets against the Simpson Storm, racking up 12 block assists and 39 kills with only eight errors.

Simpson gave the Pioneers an early scare with a 3-0 lead in the first set, but behind senior veteran middle hitter Stephanie Kirchner, they came back to win the match and eventually sweep the Storm with blowout victories.

“Today we did a great job of putting everything together; we finally had our passing and hitting going at the same time. It just felt good and when you’re feeling good, you play well,” Kirchner said.

Kirchner had a field day against the Storm, hitting an incredible .650 percentage with a game-high 13 kills and no errors.

Frias added on seven kills and junior Haley Jansen recorded 19 of the Pioneers’ 43 digs to lead the defensive efforts.

Although the Pioneers are sitting one spot above University of Wisconsin-Superior for last place in conference, the team is clicking at the right time heading into its final conference games of the year and the conference tournament.

The Pioneers have back-to-back home games on Friday against University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Saturday against University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Schulman is excited to see how well her players are playing and plans on getting ready as soon as possible for the big conference weekend.

Kirchner also believes the team is progressing in the right direction and that the big sweep of Simpson and Dubuque will carry over into the weekend.

“We’re getting back together and I think we made a really big step this weekend. We’ll look at the scouting reports, but I think we’ll take the momentum from this weekend and carry it through,” Kirchner said.

The Pioneers’ Friday game is at 7 p.m.