Warhawks stunned by UW-Stevens Point
The UW-Stevens Point Pointers came into the Kris Russell Volleyball Gymnasium and upset No. 5 UW-Whitewater in five sets.
The Pointers jumped out on a 10-2 run to start the match, but the Warhawks would respond with a 9-3 run with the Pointers then leading 13-11. Both teams then played great complementary volleyball and went back and forth with Stevens Point leading 20-18. With great offense and defense, the Pointers would go on a 5-1 run and win the first set 25-19.
The second set was all Whitewater as the Warhawks jumped out to a 13-3 start and eventually won 25-12. The Warhawks did what they did all season long by blocking the volleyball on defense and offensively manufactured points by getting kills. The Warhawks out-blocked the Pointers 6-0 in the second set and had a .583 hitting percentage.
The third set was mainly back and forth but the Warhawks eventually pulled away winning 25-22. The Warhawks offensively outdid the Pointers in kills 18-10. The Warhawks were led by graduate student outside hitter Alayna Janksy with 8 kills in the set.
Whitewater got off to a great start in the fourth set as they jumped out to a 18-11 lead, but Stevens Point came back on a 8-1 run to tie the set at 19 a piece. Both teams then went back and forth until eventually the Warhawks held a 23-22 lead. But the Pointer’s offense came through with three consecutive kills and Stevens Point won the set 25-23.
The fifth set was back and forth and was tied at 10, but the Pointers would go on a 5-1 and win the set 15-11 and the match 3-2. Jansky led the Warhawks in kills with 20 and graduate st
udent outside hitter Jenna Weinfurt had 17 kills and digs each. Sophomore setter Aubrie Krzus had 50 assists on the night.
“In the first set, we came out a little slow,” Krzus said. “I think that’s why we overall lost that set, and towards the end, we kind of started losing our momentum, which is why I think we lost that last set. But I think that overall, we did a good job, but we did start losing our momentum towards the end.”
Warhawks bounce back at UW-Whitewater Invite III
UW-Whitewater hosted Carthage on Friday and Saint Mary’s (Minnesota) and swept both matches. The Warhawks defeated Carthage in three sets
Friday night. Whitewater controlled the entire first set winning 25-15. In the second set, it was a close match to start with the Warhawks only leading 15-13. But the Warhawks went on a 10-1 run and went on to win the second set 25-14.
The third set was the same story as the first set. Carthage was able to make it close until the Warhawks eventually won the set 25-18 and the match 3-0. The Warhawks offensively were led by Jansky with 12 kills and Krzus with 34 assists. Defensively, Jansky had 9 kills and graduate student middle hitter Hannah Proctor had 6 blocks on the night.
Whitewater welcomed Saint Mary’s into the Kris Russell Volleyball Gymnasium and won in three sets. The first set was back and forth as it was tied at 12 a piece. The Warhawks then went on an 8-0 run making it 20-12 and eventually winning the first set 26-16.
The second set started out tight as UW-Whitewater only led 8-5. But the Warhawks would go on a 7-0 run making it 15-5 and eventually the Warhawks would win the second set 25-17. Saint Mary’s would lead 5-3 to start the third set. But yet again, the Warhawks would go on another run this time of 8 unanswered to make it 11-5 UW-Whitewater. Both teams would go back and forth making it 21-15 Warhawks. The Warhawks would score the final 4 points of the match and win the set 25-15 and the match 3-0.
Offensive leaders for the Warhawks were senior right side Payton Kuepers with 10 kills and junior setter Emily Bludgen with 11 assists. Defensive leaders were graduate student setter Jaedynn Evans with 16 digs and graduate student middle hitter Ava Rebarchik with 8 blocks.
The Warhawks take a week off as they get ready next Saturday as they travel to River Falls to take on UW-River Falls, and Macalester.
