PLATTEVILLE, MN (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball team opened Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play on Wednesday with a road matchup against UW-Platteville. The last nine times the Blugolds and Pioneers faced off, UW-Eau Claire came out victorious, including a five-set thriller in 2021 to round out the regular season. A similar story was written this year for Eau Claire after dropping the opening set to the Pioneers, UWEC rallied back with three straight set wins to earn the 3-1 victory.
In the first set, UWEC took control early with a 5-0 run for a 13-8 lead. Platteville answered shortly thereafter to tie the match at 14-14. Both sides matched each other's play as the opening frame held 11 tie scores and 7 lead changes. Despite reaching match point on a rare point by the libero, Sheridan Dettmann (Sr. – Watertown, WI), UWEC surrendered the following three points for a 26-24 loss.
The initial set carried the same competitiveness into the second set as both sides found themselves with the lead or deadlocked in a tie eleven times. An early run put together by the duo of Lakeville North alum, Arianna Barrett (Sr. – Lakeville, MN/North) and Bailey Leeke (Fr. – Lakeville, MN/North) put UW-Eau Claire ahead 6-2. Barrett led the Blugolds in kills during two of the four sets for a game total of ten kills, while Leeke hit a career high 14 kills and hit for .231. After recapturing the lead three separate times in set two, UWEC found themselves with two service aces and two UWP attacking errors in the final five points of the set to tie the match up, 1-1.
The Blugolds came out firing in the third with a four-point run in the opening six rallies to add to the momentum of the set win. Jordan Witzel (Sr. – Woodbury, MN/East Ridge) found her groove in the third with eight of her 14 total kills in second set victory. Charlie Nelson (Jr. – Lakeville, MN/Farmington) tallied ten of her 36 total assists in the third set to keep UWEC on the momentum swing. The early lead never wavered as Witzel found the 25th Eau Claire point to end the set 25-15 and gain the Blugolds a 2-1 lead.
The final set was a defensive one for UWEC as the team tallied four of their eight total block assists in the final set. A .073 hitting percentage from the Pioneers cleared a path for the Blugold offense to dice things up. A five-point run finished off the WIAC contest as Hannah Flottmeyer (Sr. – Madison, WI/Middleton) ended the evening with her eighth kill to push UWEC to the 25-15 mark and back in the win column.
The Blugolds (5-3, WIAC 1-0) will return home on Friday and Saturday, September 16th, and 17th for the ninth annual Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament presented by BSN Sports and Nike. UW-Eau Claire will play three matches during the tournament with their first game scheduled for 7:00PM in the McPhee Center.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
