PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team (7-2) extended its winning streak to six matches with a 3-0 sweep of MSOE (5-3) in the opening game of the UW-Platteville Tournament on Friday evening inside Williams Fieldhouse.
It was a closely contested first set until a six-point Pioneers run flipped a one-point deficit into a 13-9 lead. Senior
Bria Johnston had a pair of kills over the stretch and finished with seven total in the opening set, while sophomore
Grace Rohde added another. The gap grew to seven points, and UW-Platteville eventually won 25-20 on a set-ending kill by junior
Brooklyn Radecke.
Neither team led by more than two for much of the second set until the Pioneers went on an 11-3 run to close out a 25-17 win. Johnston, Rohde, and Radecke each had multiple kills on the run to help UW-Platteville pull away.
The Pioneers took an early three-point lead to begin the third set, but MSOE evened the score at eight apiece. The home team responded with another big run, this time 10-1, to take a commanding 17-9 advantage. Despite a late rally from the Raiders, UW-Platteville completed the sweep by winning 25-19.
Three players reached double-digit kills as the Pioneers totaled 46 as a team, compared to 29 for MSOE. Johnston and Rohde led the way with 12 each, while Radecke posted an 11-kill, 17-dig double-double. Rohde's 12 was the best mark of career, and she did it while hitting .579. UW-Platteville finished with a .222 hitting percentage versus .065 for the Raiders.
Junior
Kennedey Barber paced the team with 21 digs and Johnston narrowly missed a double-double of her own with nine digs. Sophomore
Delali Amankwa led the way with a career-high 41 assists.
At the net, UW-Platteville recorded 10 block assists, led by four from freshman
Lauren Abbott. Rohde added three, and senior
Kennedy Wenger tallied two.
The Pioneers will play two more matches at home tomorrow, starting at noon against the University of Chicago. UW-Platteville then concludes the tournament with a 2 p.m. contest against Augustana (Ill.)
