Pioneers' standout season ends in regional final

UW-Platteville's best NCAA III volleyball tournament showing ended in the Midwest Regional final, as top-seeded Wash. U. beat the third-seeded Pioneers 25-16, 25-21, 25-19 Sunday in Kenosha.

The 14th-ranked Pioneers had their 21-match winning streak snapped and finished their outstanding season with a 33-4 record. Two of the losses came to Wash. U., the defending NCAA III national champions who are ranked third this season. The Bears advance to the Elite Eight, which they will host Friday through Sunday in St. Louis.

The Pioneers' only other losses during the season came in five-set matches to UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire, which UW-Platteville avenged while winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament to qualify for nationals.

Once in the NCAA III playoffs, Coach Deb Schulman's club swept both Dominican and seventh-ranked Carthage, giving them 20 3-0 sweeps on the year. In all, UW-Platteville won 104 of the 130 sets it played in 2010.

Melissa Hillebrand and Stephanie Kirchner had eight kills apiece for the Pioneers Sunday, while Briana Kaiser had seven kills and a team-high .273 hitting percentage. Abby Carey led the defensive effort with 18 kills, and Ali Sikic made 29 assists.

Megan Byrne made 12 kills and Lauren Budde 11 for the Bears, who take a 34-3 record into the national quarterfinals.

Both Hillebrand and Kaiser earned spots on the six-player all-tournament team, with Budde earned MVP honors.