Unranked Pioneers force No.10 Pointers into five matches

Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Student Assistant

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- It took the unranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team five matches before they succumbed to the perseverance of the No. 10 Pointers from UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday evening at Bo Ryan Court.

The Pioneers (7-7) and Pointers (13-2) traded the first four matches, but it was UW-Stevens Point that edged the Pioneers with a 15-11 victory in the final set.

 As the Pointers took an early 5-2 lead in the first set, sophomore Kelley Lynch stifled the opposition's run with a spike. The Pioneers took their first lead of the night a few plays later, 6-5.

After trailing 15-13, the Pointers took their first of two consecutive timeouts within minutes of each other, but the regathering did not work as the Pioneer women went on to snag game one, 25-21.

The momentum continued into the second match beginning with another Lynch kill.

Lynch finished the evening attempting 39 kills, scoring eight of them and tacking on 12 digs.

After being tied 5-5, the Pointers took a swift lead, 9-5, before head coach Deb Schulman was forced to call her first timeout of the match. Following the timeout the Pointers continued scoring until junior Lidia Frias broke the streak with a kill, 13-6.

A three-point gap fluctuated for several sets until the Pointers doubled their lead, 21-15, and forced Schulman to call her second timeout.

The Pioneers concluded the second match with a serve into the net followed by a hitting error to allow the Pointers to take match two, 25-21.

The third match was controlled by the Pioneers early on as their largest lead appeared in the form of a 19-12 lead.

Schulman took no chances following a 5-1 run by the Pointers as she called for her first timeout, 20-17.

With a 24-23 game-point serve, junior Rachel Ambroch received the Pointer hit, sent it to sophomore Allie Carter for the set, which allowed Frias to finish the match with the game-winning kill, 25-23.

Following an 11-6 Pointer advantage in the fourth set, the Pioneers were able to claw back to a three-point gap, 22-19, but it was not enough as the Pointers sent the game into a fifth set, 25-19.

After trailing 7-2 in the final match the Pioneers tied the game twice at 10 and 11 with huge kills from Frias and senior Lauren Grady, but UW-Stevens Point ended up victorious, 15-11.

Ambroch led the Pioneer offense with 20 kills from 48 attempts, along with nine errors. Carter facilitated the ball for the Pioneers with a team-high 45 assists. Junior Lindsey Decker finished with a game-high 29 digs.

The Pioneers travel to Elmhurst College on Friday for a chance to bounce back, with the game set to begin at 4pm.