Pioneers Fall To No. 24 Rams Saturday

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team (19-6) fell to Cornell College (16-6) 3-1 on Saturday morning in a neutral site contest inside Berg Gym at Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

The Rams, currently ranked No. 24 in the AVCA Top 25 Poll, cruised to a 25-16 set one win behind a couple of strong runs. UW-Platteville answered by scoring the first 10 points of the second set, but Cornell chipped away at the lead to later tie the set at 24 apiece. The Pioneers held off the late rally to win 26-24 behind a kill by senior Claudia Johnson and an attack error by Cornell.

The two teams played a back-and-forth third set, with the Pioneers holding a slim 22-21 advantage following a kill by junior Emma Carlson. The Rams moved ahead 2-1 in the match by scoring the final four points of set three for a 25-22 win. Cornell wrapped up the match with a 25-19 set four victory after pulling away from UW-Platteville behind a five-point run.

Carlson tallied a team-high 14 kills for the Pioneers, while junior Madelyn Cooley also reached double figures with 12 kills. UW-Platteville finished with 42 kills across the four-set match, while posting a .116 hitting percentage. Sophomore Kierney McDonald hit a team-high .400 on her seven kills, while Cooley posted a mark of .318 across 22 total attacks.

Senior Shea Lauria recorded a team-high 13 digs and matched McDonald for the team lead in service aces with three each. Carlson also posted double-digit digs with 10 for her 13^th double-double of the season.

McDonald and the Pioneers were impressive at the nets, finishing with three solo blocks and 19 block assists. McDonald led the way with all three of the solo blocks and seven block assists, while Carlson and Johnson each finished with three block assists.

The Pioneers will face another Top 25 team next Wednesday when they travel to No. 2 UW-Oshkosh (27-0, 5-0 WIAC) for a 7 p.m. match.