PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team (18-11,4-3) defeated UW-River Falls (15-15, 1-6) in four sets in the regular season finale Friday night, inside Williams Fieldhouse. Prior to the match, the Pioneers celebrated seniors Kelsey Ewert, Gracie Gibbens, Kierney McDonald, Makayla Mau, and Jaelyn Stadler along with managers Amalie Kurth and Maya Fuller. 

In the first set, the Pioneers jumped out to a 6-1 advantage behind a pair of aces by junior Kennedy Wenger. UW-Platteville strung together another five-point run featuring a couple of blocks from Mau and kills from sophomore Abby Bauer and junior Bria Johnston. Another 5-0 run kept momentum rolling and a monster block by Mau and Johnston closed the set 25-14. 

Yet another 5-0 run in the second set gave the Pioneers an 11-8 advantage, but the Falcons started to chip away at UW-Platteville's lead and a 4-0 run at the end set the visitors up with set point and a 25-23 win. UW-River Falls kept that momentum going into the third set and a 6-0 run put the Falcons ahead 14-6. The Pioneers responded with a 6-1 run of their own, but it looked as if the visitors might pull off a second set when they led 20-14. That was until the Pioneers shut the Falcons down and scored 11 of the final 12 points of the set, including five kills by Radecke, to take set three 25-21. 

That huge comeback fueled the Pioneers going into the final set of the day and UW-Platteville led 9-2 from the start. Five straight, including a pair of kills by freshman Molly Andersen pushed the lead to 17-5. Gibben's aces on match-point sealed the deal with a 25-11 victory in set four.

Radecke (13), Wenger (12), and Bauer (12) all finished with double-digit kills. Mau finished with two solo blocks and two block assists and sophomore Ava Valentin had a team-high 24 assists. 

Ewert and Valentin each finished with 15 digs and Valentin also accounted for three of the Pioneers' nine service aces on the night. 

Overall, the Pioneers finished the night with a .170 hitting percentage and held the Falcons to .070 on the night, including negative hitting in both the first and final sets.

The Pioneers will enter postseason play on Tuesday, Nov. 11 when they host a first-round match of the WIAC Tournament, presented by Culver's at 7 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a $3 Pioneer burger the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering 10 tacos for $10 the day after each Pioneer win.