Pioneers prepare for second week of competition
Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville fall athletic programs waited the longest time to return to athletics. The first week of action was packed with excitement as the Pioneers returned to competition.
Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville fall athletic programs waited the longest time to return to athletics. The first week of action was packed with excitement as the Pioneers returned to competition.
Pioneer women's soccer match 2019 win total in first week
The UW-Platteville women's soccer program won two games in 2019. They have matched that win total in the first two games, thanks to strong play from the underclassmen. Freshman Alyssa Peterson scored her first career goal in double overtime, propelling the Pioneers to a 1-0 victory over Monmouth in the opener. Sophomore Vanessa Peterson scored the game winner to help the Pioneers earn a 2-1 victory over Gustavus Adolphus. Senior Amber Lueder opened the scoring for the Pioneers with her first goal of the season.
The Pioneers will continue the 2021 season with its first road trip of the year when they travel to Waukesha, Wisconsin, to battle the Carrol Pioneers on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Carrol comes in to the contest with a perfect 3-0 record, scoring 16 goals in the process. Sophomore Elizabeth Weinberg leads the Carrol Pioneers with four goals.
Following the midweek road trip, the Pioneers will return to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium for a pair of games. Simpson College will visit Platteville on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. for Pioneers Youth Day. All youth that wear their team uniform will receive free admission to the contest. The Storm enter the week with a 1-1 record, dropping its first game to Illinois Wesleyan 4-3 in double overtime before defeating Benedictine (Ill.) 1-0. The Storm host Knox College on Wednesday, Sept. 8 before visiting the Pioneers. Four different Storm team members have scored a goal.
The Pioneers will have a quick turnaround as Lakeland College will visit Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 12 for a 1 p.m. contest. The Muskies enter the week 0-2 and will play UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday, Sept. 8 before facing the Pioneers. Hanna Brouch has scored the lone goal for the Muskies in 2021.
Director of Soccer Sam Koenig is in his first season with the Pioneer women's soccer program and third year overall at UW-Platteville.
Pioneer golfers, Ash break school record in first tournament
The Pioneers finished second out of 13 teams at the Augustana Highland Classic. The Pioneers shot a school record breaking 652 over the two-day Augustana Highland Classic tournament. The previous record of 657 was set in 2003. It was Mark Evetovich's first tournament as head golf coach.
The Pioneers were led by senior Markie Ash. Ash had a career best second place finish with a two-day total of 150. Ash tied her personal best round with an opening 74 before finishing the event with a 76. Ash carded a tournament best seven birdies.
Senior Emily Veenhuis shot a 165 and tied for 13th overall. Freshman Jada Chang finished tied for 23rd in her first college tournament with a two-day total of 170. Sophomore Josie Alm and senior Cortney Olson tied for 26th with a 171. All five Pioneer golfers finished in the top half of the 70-player tournament.
Augustana Highland Classic Recap
Augustana Highland Classic Results
The Pioneers will travel to La Crosse, Wisconsin for a 36-hole tournament on Saturday, Sept. 11 and Sunday, Sept 12. The UW-La Crosse/Viterbo Invite will be played at The Golf Club at Cedar Creek in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Volleyball finishes opening week with sweep of Elmhurst
The Pioneers' women's volleyball team dropped its first two matches of the 2021 season before ripping off three straight wins. The Pioneers opened the season at Loras College and dropped the first two sets before winning sets three and four to force a fifth set. The Pioneers could not finish the comeback, dropping the final set 15-13. Senior Olivia Kudronowicz led the Pioneers offensively with 19 kills and two service aces. Senior Kaite Asche had five blocks defensively. Sophomore Abby Feldman dished out 48 assists in her first college game.
The Pioneers followed the Loras match with a weekend invitational in Grinnell, Iowa. The Pioneers would drop the first match to Millikin before taking the next three. In the process, the Pioneers swept Dominican (Ill.) and Elmhurst. Sandwiched between the two sweeps was a thrilling 3-2 victory over Central (Iowa).
Kudronowicz continued to be a force on offensive for the Pioneers. She tallied 47 kills in the four matches and leads the Pioneers with 66 kills. Freshman Emma Carlson had a career high 14 kills vs. Central and followed with 12 vs. Elmhurst. With 135 attacks, Carlson is hitting .259 (56-for-135) for the year. Asche had 14 blocks and leads the Pioneers with 19 blocks on the year.
Feldman dished out 134 assists and leads the Pioneers with 182. Freshman libero Shea Lauria leads the Pioneers with 87 digs and is second on the team with 20 assists.
Milikin and Dominican (Ill.) Recap
Central (Iowa) and Elmhurst Recap
The Pioneers will travel to Dubuque, Iowa, for a midweek match with the University of Dubuque on Wednesday, Sept. 8. At 7 p.m. The Spartans come into the season with a 2-2 record, defeating UW-Superior and Elmhurst and dropping matches to Edgewood College and UW-Stout.
Darby Hawtrey leads the Spartans with 55 kills and eight blocks. Kate Messino leads the Spartans with 69 assists.
The Pioneers will finish off the week with the Carthage Tournament in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Pioneers open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. when they will battle Bethel (Minn.). The Pioneers will finish the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 11, opening the day with host Carthage at 12 p.m. and finishing the tournament with the Milwaukee School of Engineering at 2 p.m.
Head coach Samantha Birkicht is in her fifth year as head volleyball coach at the UW-Platteville.
Men's soccer gets first win of 2021
The Pioneer men's soccer team opened the 2021 season by hosting the Milwaukee School of Engineering and dropped the contest 3-1. The Pioneers out shot the Raiders 18-12 but could only find the back of the net with freshman Quincy Ott's penalty shot.
The Pioneers would travel to Minnesota for a pair of games to finish out the week. The Pioneers were shutout in the first game with St. Johns 2-0 before picking up the first win of the season at Minnesota Morris 2-1. The Cougars scored first on a penalty kick, but the Pioneers answered quickly as freshman Lucas Gordon scored his first goal of his career off a crosser from sophomore Jack Gentilli. The Pioneers would take the lead thanks to Ott's second goal of the season.
The Pioneers will continue the 2021 season with a pair of weekend games. Central (Iowa) will visit Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium for Youth Day at 4 p.m. match. Any youth that wears their jersey will receive free admissions to the contest. The Dutch will come in with a 1-2 record.
The Pioneers will have a quick turnaround and welcome in Rockford College on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. The Regents started the week with a 1-1 record. They will visit Cornell College (Iowa) before visiting the Pioneers.
Koenig is in his first year as director of soccer and third year overall at UW-Platteville.
Football drops opener under the lights
Pioneer football opened the 2021 season under the lights of Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium and fell 37-31 to East Texas Baptist University. Junior Brandt Stare had a career high 173 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The Pioneers opened the scoring when senior quarterback Colin Schuetz found Stare for a 68-yard score. Schuetz ended the night with 351 yards passing and four touchdowns.
Junior place kicker Andrew Schweigert drilled his only field goal attempt, a 41-yard attempt, and was perfect on all four extra point attempts. Senior Logan Ketelhut recorded 1.5 sacks and Samuel Tausz picked off a deflection for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers welcomed 3,575 fans into Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium for the football opening.
The Pioneers will travel to Saint Paul, Minnesota, to battle Bethel University on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the Pioneers and Royals. The Royals enter the contest ranked #17 by d3football.com after defeating North Park University 59-7 to open the season.
Jaran Roste led the Royals offense by completing 12 of his 15 attempts for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Bryce Kunkie ran for 80 yards on 13 attempts. As a team, the Royals ran for 244 yards on 43 attempts.
Women's and men's cross country host Pioneer Gender Equity Invite
The Pioneer cross country programs will officially kick off the 2021 season on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. when they welcome Edgewood College and UW-Whitewater to the Pioneer Gender Equity Invite at Cole Acres Golf Course in Cuba City, Wisconsin. The men's race will start at 10 a.m., with the women starting at 10:02:40. The staggered start time is designed for both men and women to finish the race simultaneously.
The Pioneers hosted their annual alumni meet on Sept. 4. Kaitlyn Galgon was the top finisher for the Pioneers, finishing in 21:26. 2011 graduate Eileen McGuine won the event in a time of 20:57.
Caleb Christiansen was the top Pioneer finisher for the males with a time of 22:02. 2017 graduate Kyle Herbrand won the event in a time of 21:39.
To follow the Pioneers all season, visit www.Letsgopioneers.com for links for live stats, postgame recaps and links for the contests that are live streamed. Follow the official social media accounts of Pioneer Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.