The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team (19-5 overall) stretched its win streak to four on Oct. 15, defeating visiting Coe College (Iowa) in straight sets to remain undefeated at home this year.

The Warhawks early lead briefly disappeared when the Kohawks took their first lead at 16-15 towards the end of the first set. Two straight kills from senior outside hitter Lauren Pfeifer put the Warhawks back on top for good, winning the set by a final score of 25-20.

The Warhawks battled back from an early deficit in the second set, finishing on a 7-0 run to win 25-14. The team’s momentum continued in the third, jumping  to a 3-0 lead and clinching the match with a 25-12 win.

“Whitewater is a super power and this is something we expect in front of a big, energetic crowd,” Coe College head coach DeAnn Woodin said. “That’s a great team, and we aren’t there yet.”

UW-W held the advantage over their opponent in every major statistical category in the win including kills, errors, hitting percentage, service aces, assists and blocks.

Pfeifer led the way on offense for the Warhawks, with a team-best ten kills. Pfeifer was one of four players who had at least seven kills on the night, including junior Courtney Wagner (8) and freshmen hitters Ashton Doll (7) and Alexandra Bialo (7).

“It’s anybody’s game on any given day,” Pfeifer said. “People are confident in this team. They [the freshmen] come from being the stars [on their high school team] and now they aren’t stars, but we always have each other’s back and it is fun to see how it comes together.”

Pfeifer also tied freshman defensive specialist Elizabeth Tworek for the team lead of nine digs. Sophomore libero Brittany Robinson and senior setter Staci Hasler added eight digs each. Hasler’s 27 assists on the night led the team by a wide margin.

Five substituted  players scored a service ace for the Warhawks in the win, Pfeifer and Robinson leading the way with two each. The Kohawks managed just one ace on the night.

12 players came off the bench and saw action for the Warhawks during the match and contributed two assists, 12 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and two service aces.

“Our bench is what holds us together,” Hasler said. “When we are in situations on the court when we are lost and we don’t know what to do, we just turn to our bench and they literally save us from so many situations.”

In addition to notching a fourth-straight win, the Warhawks took some time before and after the game to support UW-W baseball player Justin Wegner, who was diagnosed with cancer in June. The team sold $5 bracelets before the game to raise money for Wegner and held a serving competition following the match.

The Warhawks will hit  the road for their next match to face UW-Platteville at 7 p.m. on Wednesday before returning home to host the Dig Panici Classic on October 21-22.