By Matt Halverson, UWEC Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's volleyball suffered a heartbreaking loss (25-18, 26-24, 17-25, 18-25, 6-15) to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the first round of the WIAC Championship Tournament.
The Blugolds came out strong to open the match with a 5-0 lead. This lead held up for the remainder of the set as the Pointers were not able to come closer than five for most of the set. Emily Miller (So.-Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) capped off the opening set with to huge kills to set an early tone in the match.
Eau Claire was also able to take set two again thanks to an early rally kicked off by Katrina Raskie (Jr.-Weston, Wis./D.C. Everest). The Pointers rallied late, but the already sturdy Blugold lead was too much, bumping the lead to 2-0. The Blugolds finished the first two sets without trailing at any point and appeared to be dominating at the point of attack.
Momentum shifted in a dramatic fashion to open the third set, however, with the Pointers going up 10-4 early on after a flurry of offense that had previously been absent in the match. Eau Claire's defense continued to struggle down the stretch, allowing multiple large rallies to Steven's Point. The Blugolds dropped the next two sets 17-25 and 18-25.
Little by little, the Pointers dug back into the match by doing what the Blugolds had done to them early on and breakaway with huge early leads, especially in the fifth set. Stevens Point scored nine straight to open the final set and ultimately won the match 3-2.
Hannah Theisen (Sr.-Rochester, Minn./Mayo) led the Blugolds with 13 kills followed by Emily Miller with 11.
Steven's Point moves on to play at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the conference semifinals.