Last weekend the volleyball team hosted the third and final UW-Whitewater Invite and potentially the final home games for the seniors.

UW-Whitewater defeated No. 4 Wittenberg University and Wartburg College and lost to No. 10 Carthage College.

Up next for the ‘Hawks is a trio of conference road games before the WIAC tournament.

The team entered play last weekend without standout freshman Alivia Holman, who will miss the remainder of the season with a dislocated elbow.

Against Wittenberg University, the ‘Hawks jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set but several miscues allowed the Tigers to tie it up at seven. Head Coach Stacey Boudreau settled her team down and they took the first set 25-22.

The Tigers found themselves in a hole early again in the third set as they fell behind 12-7 and eventually 18-14. Then they used a 5-2 run to make it 20-19 and fought to tie the game at 24. The ‘Hawks took the set and the match 27-25 on a kill by freshman Ariel Feiertag.

“I saw the set and was just thinking I need to go up aggressive,” Feiertag said. “I didn’t know what to expect coming into tonight, so I just stepped up and tried to help the team.”

Feiertag came off of the bench to replace Holman and finished the game with eight kills and three blocks.

“I’m very proud of our team they couldn’t have played any better,” Boudreau said. “We played a great team and our aggressive serving got them out of system. When everything is firing with this team we can go out and beat anybody.”

Things did not go as smoothly the next morning against Carthage College. The ’Hawks struggled early and committed 40 errors, 30 on attacks and 10 on serving. The Lady Reds cruised to a 3-1 win.

“Carthage is a good team and we came out flat and got down 0-2; no excuses,” Boudreau said.

In the regular season, Carthage is now the only team to defeat Whitewater twice and is the only team to beat them at home.

In game three against Wartburg, the ’Hawks explosive offense won them the first two sets 25-21 and 26-24.

It was the Knight’s defense that allowed them stay in the game and take the next two sets 25-23 and 25-16. The Knights won both sets on ’Hawks errors.

“The seniors looked at this weekend like it could be our last time playing at home,” Sanchez said. “We’d do anything to win here so we just went out and brought it and if this was our last game at home I’m proud of the way it ended.”