EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – After capturing the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season championship last Friday night with a win over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the UW-Eau Claire volleyball team faced the Warhawks again on Saturday night, this time for the WIAC Tournament Championship (presented by Culver's). The Blugold would again take down Whitewater, this time with a score of 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 28-26).
Box Score | Photos | WIAC Championship Website
Madelyn Pashibin (Sr. – Minneapolis, MN/Southwest), who was named WIAC Offensive Player of the Year earlier in the week, once again led the Blugolds with 15 kills. Arianna Barrett (Fr. – Lakeville, MN/North) and Makenzie Bachmann (So. – Chaska, MN) also hit double digits, recording 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Bachmanm also tallied 18 digs for the double-double while Barrett hit an impressive .458 on the night.
Taylor Scalia (So. – Lake Elmo, MN/Stillwater) led the defense with 21 digs while Kelsey Kowitz (Sr. – Inver Grove Heights, MN/ Saint Croix Lutheran) added 13 and Amber Karn (Sr. – Middleton, WI) chipped in 12.
Senior setter Madison Surprise (Sr. – Appleton, WI/Kimberly) had 53 assists along with 7 digs and two service aces in the Blugolds' 29th win of the season while Krista Meyer (So. – Germantown) also had a solid night, recording 9 kills with a hitting percentage of .304 and contributing 6 block assists.
With the win, the Blugolds (29-3) earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and will now wait for the NCAA selection show on Monday, Nov. 5th at 11:30 a.m. to see when are where they will play in regional round. Follow the action on Blugold Game Day or on the 'UWEC Blugolds' app on your mobile device.
