By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (blugolds.com) - In 2016, UW-Stevens Point ended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball team's season in the conference tournament in a five-set thriller. On Saturday night, the Blugolds got a little bit of sweet revenge.
While the stakes were certainly higher a season ago, Saturday night's win was still a big one for Eau Claire as Stevens Point currently sits just outside the Top 25. As one of three Blugolds teams traveling east to face the Pointers today, the volleyball team was victorious in five incredibly close sets.
In sets one, three, and four, the scoreboard read 25-22, with the Pointers taking the first and fourth and the Blugolds the third. Eau Claire won set two (25-19), setting up a decisive fifth set after the home squad tied it up.
The Blugolds scored their first two points of the final set on Stevens Point missed serves, and that really set the tone from there. Eau Claire extended their lead to 8-2 before switching sides. The Pointers threatened late, but the early advantage was enough for the blue and gold to pull away 15-11 to win.
Jumping off the stats page in Saturday's win was Talia Jaskulske's (Sr.-Maplewood, MN/North St. Paul) performance. The senior libero not only tallied a massive 45 digs in the match, but she also moved into third on the UW-Eau Claire all-time digs leaderboard. Her total on Saturday fell just two shy of the school record for a single match as well.
As for the attack, Madison Surprise's (Jr.-Appleton, WI/Kimberly) 48 assists were spread among five Blugolds, and three of them notched at least 14 kills.
Jessica Coyne (Jr.-Verona, WI) led the trio with 17 kills; Madelyn Pashibin (Jr.-Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Southwest) finished with 15; and Emily Miller (Sr.-Prior Lake, MN) added 14 of her own.
With the win, the Blugolds move to 12-8 overall and 3-1 in the conference. They will host Senior Night on Tuesday, when they play host to St. Norbert followed by the UW-Oshkosh Invitational next weekend.
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