The No. 5 UW-Whitewater volleyball team played its most complete game of the season, beating the No. 21 North Park Vikings Saturday night in a ranked non-conference battle in three sets.
Park team in the Williams Center Volleyball Court Oct. 12, 2024. (Kaitlin Bruchert)
The Warhawks got out to a hot start leading 12-1 in the first set and never looked back, winning the set 25-11. The Warhawks dominated up front doing most of their damage by beating North Park in the kills category 17-7.
The second set was more of the same as the Warhawks led 10-2. North Park put up a fight, making it 15-9 until UW-Whitewater went on a 10-3 run to win the set 25-12.
The Warhawks played complementary volleyball as the defense produced blocks and the
offense manufactured more kills.
Whitewater continued their domination in the third set, winning 25-10. The defense stepped up tremendously as they out blocked North Park 6-0.
“I think that defensively, we were just all on board, on the same page,” graduate student outside hitter Alayna Jansky said. “It was very hard for them to score because of our blocking, so kudos to everyone up front. I think it was an awesome match defensively.”
North Park volleyball team. (Kaitlin Bruchert)
Graduate student outside hitter Jenna Weinfurt led the Warhawks in kills with 15 and Jansky with 12. Sophomore setter Aubrie Krzus distributed the ball well, having 31 assists on the night. Defensively, graduate student defensive specialist Jaedynn Evans led the team with 13 digs and sophomore middle hitter Abbie Dix led the way in blocks with 6.5.
“Tonight’s performance was honestly one of the most fun games,” said Weinfurt. “I think we really just went out there and we stood on business.”
“I think that is probably one of the most flawless games that we’ve played all year,” said head coach Stacy Boudreau. “Our team hit .513 – that’s a crazy hitting percentage for a team to be hitting. So I just thought we were very focused, and I thought we came out and executed really, really well.”
The Warhawks improve to 16-2 on the season and will be back in action Wednesday night as UW-Stevens Point will come to the Kris Russell Volleyball Gymnasium for a big conference matchup.
