Postseason heating up for the Pioneers, winter heating up
Platteville, Wis.- As the calendar switches from October to November, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville athletic teams will switch their focus from regular season to postseason. The men’s and women’s soccer teams as well as the Pioneer volleyball team begin their postseason play this week. Men’s and women’s cross country will have the week off after competing in the WIAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 29.
Platteville, Wis.- As the calendar switches from October to November, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville athletic teams will switch their focus from regular season to postseason. The men's and women's soccer teams as well as the Pioneer volleyball team begin their postseason play this week. Men's and women's cross country will have the week off after competing in the WIAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 29.
Volleyball to face defending national champions in opening round of WIAC
The Pioneer women's volleyball team finished up the regular season with a 22-8 overall record and a 3-4 conference record. The 22 wins is the most for the Pioneer volleyball team since 2010. They will enter the WIAC Volleyball Championships (presented by Culver's) as the fifth seed and travel to UW-Eau Claire (21-8, 4-3 WIAC) for a first-round match on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
Emma Carlson finished the year with 3.63 kills per set, good for third in the WIAC. Kierney McDonald finished third in the WIAC with .320 hitting percentage. She led the WIAC in conference-only matches with a .407 hitting percentage. McDonald also led the WIAC with 0.97 blocks per set. She totaled 16 solo blocks and 79 assisted blocks on the year.
Sam Rossetti averaged 8.52 assists per set, good for fourth in the WIAC. Kelsey Ewert finished second in the WIAC in service aces per set. She totaled 45 service aces in 86 sets (0.52).
The Blugolds defeated the Pioneers three sets to one on Sept. 14 in their lone match of the year. UW-Eau Claire won the 2021 WIAC regular season and tournament championships before running the table to win the 2021 NCAA Division III Volleyball National Championship.
The winner of Tuesday's match will move on and face WIAC regular season champions UW-Whitewater on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Samantha Birkicht is in her sixth year at UW-Platteville, with a career record of 75-75.
Women's soccer heads to UW-Stevens Point to open WIAC Tournament
The Pioneer women's soccer team finished the regular season with a 12-5-2 overall record and a 3-3-1 WIAC record. The 12 wins ties a school record for most wins in the regular season. The Pioneers also won 12 contests in 2010.
The Pioneers will enter the WIAC Women's Soccer Tournament (presented by Culver's) as the fifth seed and travel to UW-Stevens Point (6-8-4, 3-2-2 WIAC). The Pointers defeated the Pioneers 1-0 on Oct. 22 in the lone match up of the season.
Lauren Lodico led a balanced Pioneer offense with six goals. She finished ninth in the WIAC in goals scored. Lydia Smith led the league with 12 assists, while Jenna Gravitt tied for second with eight assists.
Emma Ball finished third in the WIAC for goals against average (0.92) and save percentage (.833). She was tied for second with five shutout victories.
The winner of Tuesday's contest will move on to the semi-finals. The lowest remaining seed will travel to UW-La Crosse while the highest remaining seed will travel to UW-Whitewater.
Sam Koenig is in his second season as head coach with a career record of 21-11-5.
Men's soccer #3 seed in return to post-season play
The Pioneer men's soccer team will travel to Salisbury University in Maryland for the Coast-To-Coast (C2C) Men's Soccer Tournament. The post-season conference tournament is the first the Pioneers will participate in since 2014, the last season the WIAC offered men's soccer as a conference sport.
The Pioneers (12-4-2) earned the three seed in the tournament and will open play on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. against sixth seed and host school Salisbury University (4-11-2). With no conference contest in the regular season, the seeds are based off the Massey Ratings system, which the Pioneers were third in the conference. UW-Whitewater (12-6-1) was fourth and open play versus UC Santa Cruz (6-8-3). Christopher Newport (11-3-1) was the top seed and Mary Washington University (9-4-2) was the two seed. They received byes into the semi-finals. Semi-finals will be held Friday, Nov. 4 with game one at 10 a.m. and game two at 1 p.m. The C2C championship will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. All times are central time.
Jack Gentilli led the Pioneers with seven goals and nine assists. His nine assists lead all C2C players. Sebastian Carranza and Danny Gutzwiller were second on the Pioneers with six goals apiece.
Sam Koenig is in his fourth year as head coach of the Pioneer men's soccer team with a career record of 33-17-7.
Pioneers drop triple overtime game at UW-Stout, host UW-Eau Claire for final home game
The Pioneers defense held the high-power UW-Stout offense to one yard rushing. Despite the valiant effort by the defense, UW-Stout scored on their two-point try in triple overtime to walk away with the 24-22 victory.
Quarterback Michael Priami returned to start his third game of the season. Priami was knocked out of the opener and returned to start versus UW-River Falls before leaving with an injury in that game. Priami threw for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Will Lawrence topped the 100-yard mark for the first time in his young career with 103 yards on 23 attempts. Ben Wilson hauled in five passes for 106 including a 64-yard touchdown reception.
Justin Blazek led the Pioneers defense with eight tackles, 2.5 sacks and three tackle for losses. The Pioneer defense force three Blue Devil turnovers.
UW-Stout Recap
The Pioneers (4-4, 3-2 WIAC) will close out the 50th year of Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. when UW-Eau Claire (2-6, 1-4 WIAC) visits town. UW-Platteville and the Pioneer football team will honor 13 seniors prior to kickoff. In addition to the 13 student-athletes, the Pioneers will also honor five student-support staff members that will be graduating.
The Pioneers are the top defensive team versus the pass in the WIAC, allowing only 165.5 yards. They are fourth defensively against the rush, allowing 112.0 yards a contest. They are second in total defense, allowing only 277.5 yards per contest. They lead the WIAC in sacks with 25.
The Pioneer offense is seventh in the WIAC, averaging 271.9 yards per contest.
Head Coach Ryan Munz has used three starting quarterbacks in 2022. Priami has started three games, while Braeden Katcher has started two and Nathan Shackelford has started three. Combined, the trio has completed 55.8% of their passes for 1,272 yards and nine touchdowns. Priami leads the trio with a 60.6% completion rate. He threw his first touchdown pass of the year at UW-Stout, a 64-yarder to Wilson.
Lawrence leads the Pioneers in rushing attempts and yards. He has rushed the ball 97 times for 368 yards and a touchdown. Wilson leads the team in receptions and yards. He has 26 receptions for 319 yards and two touchdowns. John Goomey has hauled in four passes, three of them went for touchdowns.
Sam Smith leads the team with 66 tackles. Justin Blazek is second with 50 tackles and leads the WIAC by a large margin with 8.5 sacks. Tyler Bacon is second with five sacks, while Aidan Sproule is third with 4.5 sacks.
Colton Ingram and Samuel Tausz each have two interceptions on the year, Ingram is one of three WIAC players to return an interception for a score.
Ryan Munz is in his first year as head coach of the Pioneer football team.
UW-Eau Claire is sixth in total offense, averaging 338.3 yards per a contest and last in total defense. The Blugolds allow 503.1 yards per a contest.
Harry Roubidoux has completed 51.5% of his passes for 1,664 yards and 14 touchdowns. Roubidoux has been picked off eight times in 2022. Isaac Garside is Roubidoux's favorite target. Garside leads the Blugolds in receptions (42) and yards (522). Nick Kudick leads the team with seven touchdown receptions.
Ivan Ruble leads UW-Eau Claire with 173 rushes for 638 yards and six touchdowns.
Ryan Kuechle leads the Blugolds defense with 66 tackles. AJ Firminhac leads the team with 3.5 sacks and tied for the team lead with 5.5 tackles for loss.
Wesley Beschorner is in his third season at UW-Eau Claire with a career record of 8-20.
Pioneer cross country has week off before NCAA North Regionals
The men's and women's Pioneer cross country programs finished seventh at the 2022 WIAC Cross Country Championships in West Salem, Wisconsin. Logan Bell finished 15th to pace the men, while Katilyn Galgon was the top Pioneer women's finisher, finishing 42nd.
The Pioneers will next run on Saturday, Nov. 12 at the NCAA North Regional hosted by Saint Olaf College.
Pioneer wrestling opens with UW-Platteville Invite
Head Coach Trevor Kittleson will begin his second season as the man in charge of the Pioneer wrestling program. The Pioneers will host the University of Dubuque, Cornell College and the University of Chicago at the UW-Platteville Invite on Saturday, Nov. 5. Matches will be contested on four mats beginning at 10 a.m.
To follow the Pioneers all season, visit www.Letsgopioneers.com for links for live stats, postgame recaps and links for the contests that are live streamed. Follow the official social media accounts of Pioneer Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.