Pioneers take second in St. Louis

UW-Platteville swept three of its four opponents to take second place in the National Invitational Tournament in St. Louis.

The only loss came against against top-ranked and defending national champion Wash U.. The Pioneers took the first set before the Bears rallied to win, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 in the marquee matchup Saturday night. The Pioneers opened tournament play earlier in the night by beating Simpson 25-17, 25-16, 25-22.

Coach Deb schulman's team swept Fontbonne 25-7, 25-13, 25-14 and DePauw 25-14, 25-23, 25-16 Sunday to clinch second. UWP improved to 4-1, with all four victories coming via sweeps.

Senior Leslie White and freshman Stephanie Kirchner both made the all-tournament team. White led the team with 50 digs and 9 serving aces, including a match-high 7 aces against Fontbonne. Kirchner led the squad with 2.8 kills per set, reaching double figures against both Simpson (11) and Wash U. (10).

Melissa Hillebrand and Melanie Bailiff each recorded double-figure kill totals twice, and Briana Kaiser had 11 vs. Wash U. Kaiser also had eight blocks vs. Simpson.

Thirteen Pioneers saw action in at least two sets over the weekend.