PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team (13-8) closed out the weekend strong, picking up a pair of sweeps over Loras (5-14) and Luther (5-17) on Saturday inside Williams Fieldhouse.

Match One
To begin the day, the Pioneers claimed the first set against Loras 25-18 after leading throughout. A five-point run early in the second set, put UW-Platteville up 7-3, and a couple of four-point runs later in the set made it an 11-point advantage. Junior Kennedy Wenger wrapped up the set with a kill, as the Pioneers won 25-17 to move ahead 2-0 in the match.

UW-Platteville got out to a 10-4 lead in the third set and never let Loras get any closer than four the rest of the way. Wenger had three kills down the stretch, including the match winner as the Pioneers finished off the sweep with a 25-15 win.

McDonald had a match-high 15 kills, while Wenger tallied 11 on an impressive .563 hitting percentage. Senior Kelsey Ewert had a team-leading 17 digs, while junior Bria Johnston added 11. Senior Gracie Gibbens finished with 32 assists.

The Pioneers finished with seven service aces, led by three from Ewert and two from Johnston. UW-Platteville also had one solo block and 10 block assists in thew in, with four block assists and the solo block coming from McDonald.

Match Two
Against Luther, the Pioneers raced out to an early 9-1 advantage in set one, highlighted by four kills from McDonald. UW-Platteville rode that momentum to a 25-12 set one win, with a solo block from Wenger the final point.

The Pioneers scored 10 unanswered points in the second set to win 25-9 and go up by two sets. The Norse bounced back and led by five early in set three, but UW-Platteville rallied behind a five-point run to take a 19-18 lead. Luther took a 24-23 lead late, and the two teams traded points until a service error and a kill by McDonald secured the Pioneers sweep with a 29-27 set three win.

McDonald recorded a team-high 10 kills while posting a .421 hitting percentage. Wenger, sophomore Brooklyn Radecke, and sophomore Abby Bauer finished just shy of double figures with nine kills apiece. UW-Platteville finished with 40 total kills in the sweep while hitting .341.
Radecke paced the team with 10 digs, while Ewert added seven. Gibbens led the team with 27 assists.

Up Next
The Pioneers will be at home Wednesday night to continue conference play against No. 4 UW-Whitewater. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a free ice cream cone (with purchase) the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering a free churro (with purchase) the day after each Pioneer win.