Pioneer Volleyball drops five-set thriller at UW-Whitewater

WHITEWATER, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to UW-Whitewater, 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-15, 19-25, 15-10) in the opening round of the WIAC Tournament on Wednesday in Whitewater, Wis.

Senior Stephanie Kirchner recorded her second double-double of the season, tallying a team-high 16 digs and 14 kills. The Sussex, Wis. native led the Pioneers with a .293 hitting percentage and added two solo blocks. Freshman Lidia Frias and sophomore Jennifer Schmidt each recorded 11 kills apiece. Freshman Lindsey Decker and junior Haley Jansen tallied 16 digs apiece.

The Pioneers and the Warhawks played evenly in the first set, 22-22, but a pair of errors by the Pioneers helped UWW take the opening set 25-23. UW-Platteville forgot about its miscues from the first set and tied the game up at one set apiece, 25-21. The Warhawks jumped out to a quick 12-3 lead and cruised to a 25-15 third set victory. In the fourth set, UW-Platteville and the Warhawks were all knotted up at 10-10 before the Pioneers went on a 12-4 run to take a 22-14 lead. The Pioneers forced a fifth and final set after winning the fourth, 25-19. Five errors by the Pioneers helped UWW win the fifth set 15-10.

The Pioneers end their season 15-19 and will miss Kirchner, who ends her career as the third Pioneer in school history to record over a 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.