RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team swept UW-River Falls on Friday night at Page Arena. The Pioneers (11-4,2-0 WIAC) defeated the Falcons (8-4,0-2 WIAC) in three sets behind scores of 25-19, 25-15, and 25-19.
The Pioneers pulled out of the gates early in the first set and never looked back. Back-to-back kills by senior
Bria Johnston and junior
Grace Rohde gave UW-Platteville a 15-12 advantage. The Falcons were able to draw within two points, but three-straight points for the Pioneers, including kills by Rohde and freshman
Lauren Abbott, locked down the first set win.
The Pioneers continued with the same pace in the second set and benefited from nine attack errors by UW-River Falls.
The third set started as a much closer contest and UW-Platteville found itself tied at 11 with the home team. A kill from junior
Brooklyn Radecke gave the Pioneers the go-ahead which they never lost from that point on. Three kills by Johnston made up a five-point run soon after and Radecke accounted for the final four kills and points for the Pioneers, solidifying UW-Platteville's second WIAC sweep.
Overall, the Pioneers accumulated 42 kills and 40 assists as they outhit UW-River Falls .254 to .138.
Radecke paced the Pioneers with 12 kills. Junior
Kennedey Barber had a team-high 19 digs and sophomore
Delali Amankwa (20) and junior
Ava Valentin (18) had double-digit assists.
The Pioneers will stay in River Falls on Saturday for the UW-River Falls Tournament. First up is St. Catherine at 1 p.m. followed by St. Benedict at 3 p.m.
