PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team fell in four sets on Wednesday night to No. 21 ranked University Dubuque inside Williams Fieldhouse. The Pioneers (8-4) forced a fourth set by winning a 25-23 battle, but the Spartans (12-2) took the first two and final sets 25-17, 25-23, and 25-18.
Senior
Kennedy Wenger paced the Pioneers with a .310 hitting percentage behind 12 kills. Junior
Brooklyn Radecke and senior
Bria Johnston also finished in double-digit kills with 13 apiece. Junior
Kennedey Barber had a team-high 18 digs and sophomore
Delali Amankwa totaled 28 assists.
The first set started as a back-and-forth battle, but a 9-1 run surged the Spartans ahead. Johnston had three straight kills as part of a four-point run, but it wasn't enough to stop Dubuque from taking the first set.
In the second set, neither team led by more than two points for nearly the entire set. The Spartans pulled ahead 22-19 following an attacking error, but a kill by Wenger narrowed Dubuque's lead to 23-22. The Spartans answered with a kill to bring on set-point, and two serves later they took a two-set advantage.
Dubuque led most of the third set at the beginning, but after taking an 18-13 lead, three kills from junior
Paige Foltz, Johnston, and junior
Abby Bauer cut the advantage to 19-16. The Spartans went ahead 22-17, but the Pioneers erupted and took eight of the next nine points, including five kills, a block, and an ace.
After the Pioneers forced the fourth set, a five-point run by Dubuque gave the visiting team a 9-5 edge. Kills by Wenger and Johnston narrowed the deficit to 12-10, but the Spartans battled for every point. Dubuque strung together another 4-0 run, but it was a service error in the end that awarded the 25-18 victory to close out the match.
The Pioneers finished holding a 53-48 advantage in kills behind .129 hitting percentage.
UW-Platteville will return to action this Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. when they host the UW-Stevens Point Pointers in the WIAC opener inside Williams Fieldhouse.
