Volleyball ends weekend 3-1 at Millikin Tourney

DECATUR, Ill. -- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team fell to 18th-ranked Millikin 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22) to begin Saturday, but ended the weekend on a high note with a 3-2 victory over Dubuque (16-25, 25-17, 25-27, 25-17, 17-15). 

Freshman Merritt Johnson led the Pioneers with 12 kills, while Jennifer Schmidt tallied 11 kills with a .308 hitting percentage. 

With the first set tied up at 17-17, the Pioneers scored the next three points, forcing a Millikin timeout. Millikin saved three set points, tying it up at 24-24, but a pair of MU errors gave UW-Platteville the opening set 26-24. 

The Pioneers led by as many as four points in the second set, 15-11. Millikin managed to tie the set up at 18-18 and pushed past the UW-Platteville to take the set 25-21. 

Millikin took an early 14-6 lead and forced the Pioneers to take their second timeout of the third set. MU cruised to a 25-16 victory, while hitting .619 (15 kills, 2 errors). 

Even with six miscues early in the fourth set, the Pioneers stayed with Millikin, 12-12 and a pair of kills by Schmidt gave UW-Platteville a 14-12 lead. MU regained the lead at 16-15 and wouldn't give it back, closing out the match 25-22. 

The Pioneers had to comeback down a set to beat Dubuque 3-2 (16-25, 25-17, 25-27, 25-17, 17-15). Schmidt led the team with 16 kills and was named to the Millikin All-Tournament team. Lidia Frias posted a .385 hitting percentage with 12 kills. Lindsey Decker tallied a team-best 22 digs, followed by Kelley Lynch with 18. 

UW-Platteville returns to conference play on Wednesday when the Pioneers travel to UW-La Crosse.