Record-Breaking Home Crowd Leads UW-Platteville to Straight Set Win Over Ashford

Sparked by a new home attendance record crowd of 1,252, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team swept Ashford University, 25-13, 25-16, 25-14 on Thursday night as part of Yell Night 2011 inside Williams Fieldhouse.

The Pioneers (18-9) hit at a season-best clip of .411 in the straight-set win. Junior Samantha Rampart led the attack with a match-high 16 kills in the win. Rampart had five kills in the first and third set and six more in the second to lead UW-Platteville. Setting up the attack was senior Ali Sikic, who had 40 assists. The Pioneers also added five blocks and five service aces to the cause.

The Saints (16-14) were held to a .083 hitting percentage in the defeat. Mckenzie Thompson led the attack with seven kills.

Energized by the raucous crowd, in the opening set, UW-Platteville jumped out to an 8-3 lead which prompted an Ashford timeout. The Pioneers stretched the lead to 13 to 5 to force another timeout. Pioneers' senior Briana Kaiser closed out the set with three kills to put UW-Platteville ahead a set to start the match.

In the second set, the Pioneers trailed for the only time in the match at 2-1, answering back with an 11 to 5 spurt for a 12 to 7 lead. To take the lead, Rampart added three kills to spark UW-Platteville.

To close out the match, an 8 to 3 run midway in the third set led the Pioneers to the straight-set win. In the run, four different Pioneers had a kill and Emily Kaiser and Stephanie Kirchner teamed up on a block.

The Pioneers will be idle over the weekend before returning to the rigors of the WIAC when they host UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.