Saturday series sweep over North Central and Concordia

Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Student Assistant

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- Back-to-back sweeps over North Central College (13-3) and Concordia University of Chicago (6-9) on Saturday put the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneer volleyball team (9-8) back above the .500 mark.

Beginning at 10am the Pioneers took on the North Central Cardinals who were on a five-game winning streak prior to entering Bo Ryan Court. The Pioneers scored the first two points of the game off Cardinal errors, but the ensuing possessions fell in favor of North Central as they went on a 5-0 run and did not give up the lead until late in the match.

A kill by Rachel Ambroch put the Pioneers back ahead, 19-18, and sparked a momentum shift, which turned into a 6-4 run and a victorious first set, 25-22.

Match three was almost in complete control by the UW-Platteville women as they jumped out to a 10-6 lead. The Pioneers did not let up the pressure forcing an eight-point gap and their largest lead of the match 20-12. The Cardinals attempted a late run, but it was not enough to stop the Pioneers as they took match three and earned their first win following a three-game losing streak, 25-20.

Junior Lidia Frias led the offense with 12 kills and only two errors on 25 attempts, while junior Lindsey Decker led the defense with 9 digs and sophomore Kelley Lynch was close behind with eight.

A few hours later the women returned to the gym to take on the Concordia Cougars (6-9). The Cougars, fresh off a game against the Cardinals, took an early 7-2 lead over the Pioneers. A kill by Lidia Frias discontinued the Cougar run and began the 13-3 run that established Pioneer dominance, 15-10. From that point, a Pioneer 10-4 run inevitably led to the first win over the Cougars.

The second game, completely controlled by UW-Platteville, began with an early 14-3 Pioneer lead. As head coach Deb Schulman began rotating in non-starters, there was no missed beat. The women went on to defeat the cougars in match two, 25-16. No momentum was lost in game three as the Pioneers earned their largest win margin of the day, 25-13.

The Pioneers controlled the offensive attack with 40 kills off 102 attempts compared to the Cougars' 16 off of 82. Ten different Pioneer women reached the board with at least one kill, while sophomore Merritt Johnson led the way with eight. Decker and Lynch anchored the defense again with dig totals of 12 and ten, respectively.

The Pioneers return to Bo Ryan Court on Wednesday, Sept. 30 to take on the UW-Oshkosh Titans for Cancer Awareness Night with the match set to begin at 7pm.