Sweep of Blue Devils Gives Pioneers First Conference Win

Photo courtesy of UW-Stout Sports Information

MENOMONIE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team (15-4, 1-2 WIAC) collected its first conference victory of the season, sweeping UW-Stout (10-9, 1-2 WIAC) on the road Friday night.

It's the fifth consecutive sweep for the Pioneers, who improve to 1-2 in WIAC play this season.

After going back and forth for most of the opening set, the Blue Devils used a quick run to hold a four-point advantage late. The Pioneers responded with a four-point run to tie the game at 19, and later closed out the set with another run of four straight points to win 25-23. In the second set, UW-Platteville pulled ahead behind a pair of runs to take a 10-point lead. UW-Stout cut the deficit down to six, but the Pioneers clinched the set 25-18 on a kill from freshman Kierney McDonald. UW-Platteville held a five-point advantage in the third set, as kills from McDonald and junior Claudia Johnson, along with a service ace by freshman Bri Gartner held put the Pioneers in control. The Blue Devils got back within one, but the Pioneers scored the final four points to win 25-20, capped off by a service ace by senior Sam Rossetti.

Sophomore Emma Carlson put together a strong performance, totaling a team-high 18 kills on a .342 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs. McDonald tallied 13 kills, swinging an impressive .632 percentage. Gartner led the way with 10 digs, while Rossetti recorded 31 assists. As a team, the Pioneers posted a hitting mark of .228, compared to .084 for the Blue Devils.

UW-Platteville will travel to UW-Whitewater on Tuesday evening for another road conference matchup. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a $3 Pioneer burger the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering 10 tacos for $10 the day after each Pioneer win.