Pioneers take two at WashU Invite

ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team finished its stint at the WashU Red and Green Invite with a pair of wins on Saturday. The Pioneers (21-7, 3-3) defeated Grinnell College (17-7, 6-0) in four sets before winning their final match in five sets against Earlham (12-14, 5-2). 

In the first match a kill by Camryn Johnston ended the first set 25-22. The Pioneers used that momentum to jump out to a 15-5 lead against Grinnell in the second set with Claudia Johnson and Sam Rossetti each tallying four kills for the Pioneers. Three straight kills later by Johnson put the Pioneers in place to win 25-7 for a 2-0 lead.

Grinnell took set three 25-20, but UW-Platteville registered a .429 hitting percentage in the final set for a decisive 25-11 win.  

Madilyn Schultz finished with a team-high 11 kills while she and Johnston each finished with a .25 hitting percentage. Shea Lauria led the Pioneers with 15 digs and Sam Rossetti recorded 30 assists. 

In the second match, UW-Platteville came out swinging with a .429 hitting percentage in the first set to win 25-17. Earlham then scored four straight at the end of set two in order to win 25-20 and knot the match 1-1. 

UW-Platteville scored four straight to tie the fourth set 24-24, but Earlham tallied the next two kills to force a fifth set. 

Fortunately, the Pioneers hit .444 in the final set to win 15-12. Johnson finished the match with a .417 hitting percentage and 12 kills while Emma Carlson registered a team-high 19 kills. Lauria added 20 more digs to the stat sheet and Rossetti accumulated 38 assists. 

The Pioneers will return to action and Williams Fieldhouse on Tuesday, October 25 for the final home match of the regular season against Loras College at 7 p.m.