Pioneers Open Weekend Tournament With Two Wins

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team opened a four-game weekend at the Mabel Lee Invite on Friday evening facing Carroll and Coe. The team continued its stellar start to the season with a sweep of Carroll before winning a five-set match over Coe later in the evening.

UW-Platteville and Carroll played a back-and-forth opening set, with neither team able to gain much separation. Leading by two late in the set, UW-Platteville secured the final two points to win 25-21. UW-Platteville raced out to an early 11-4 lead in the second set, but Carroll flipped the script to grab a 19-16 lead. UW-Platteville recovered, closing the set on a 9-2 run to win 25-21 again. The third set was tightly contested as well, with both teams trading points for much of the set. But UW-Platteville pulled away at the end as kills from sophomore Emma Carlson, junior Claudia Johnson, and sophomore Madilyn Schultz completed the sweep 25-22.

Schultz led the team with nine kills on a .316 hitting percentage, while freshman Kierney McDonald (8) and Carlon (7) both recorded strong performances. UW-Platteville hit .245 as a team, including .341 in the third set. Freshman Bri Gartner posted a team-high nine digs and UW-Platteville finished with a season-high 14 block assists, with Johnson tallying six.

UW-Platteville competed against the tournament host school Coe in its second match of the day. The Pioneers won the extended first set 28-25 as three kills from McDonald and one from Carlson clinched the victory. The Kohawks won the second set 25-21 behind an 8-1 run midway through the set. UW-Platteville answered by winning the third set 25-16 but Coe responded with a fast start in set four to win 25-12 and tie the match at two. In the fifth set, the teams traded points until a kill from Schultz and a Kohawk attack error secured the five-set win for the Pioneers at 17-15.

The Pioneers totaled 67 kills, with four players reaching double figures. Johnson posted a team-best 18 kills on an impressive .469 hitting percentage, while McDonald hit .344 to go with 16 kills. Carlson recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs while senior Sam Rossetti finished just shy with nine kills and 11 digs. Gartner led the team with 14 digs.

UW-Platteville continues play at the Mabel Lee Invite tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. against St. Olaf. The Pioneers will play their second game of the day tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. against Buena Vista.

*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.