EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire volleyball team won its fifth straight match with a 3-0 victory over UW-River Falls in the McPhee Physical Education Center tonight.
Eau Claire defeated the Falcons with scores of 25-16, 26-24 and 25-17.
In the opening set, the Falcons scored first but Eau Claire jumped out to a 6-2 lead and steadily increased its advantage throughout the set to eventually win by nine.
The second set was much closer. River Falls led 4-1 early but after the teams worked their way to a 6-6 tie, neither team would get ahead by more than two points the rest of the way. The score was tied a total of 13 times but after a River Falls service error with the score tied at 24, the Blugolds were able to score one more for the win.
The Blugolds started the third set with a 3-0 lead but the teams again found themselves tied until the midway point. After a 12-12 tie, the Blugolds used a couple of runs to outscore River Falls 13-5 the rest of the way to win by eight.
Katrina Raskie (Fr.-Weston, Wis./D.C. Everest) led the Blugolds with nine kills while Kelly Riesgraf (So.-Chaska, Minn.) led the match with a .750 hitting percentage, going 6-for-8. As a team, Eau Claire hit .228 to .108 for the Falcons.
Kelly Schuh (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./Hortonville) and Lauren Sutherland (Sr.-Dayton, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian) tied for a match-best 14 digs while Maggie Holcombe (Fr.-Shakopee, Minn.) led the match with 18 set assists.
Eau Claire finished with nine blocks and five service aces while River Falls had two blocks and three service aces.
The Blugolds handed River Falls its first conference loss of the season. Eau Claire is now 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the conference while the Falcons are 11-5 on the season and 2-1 in WIAC play. The win tonight was also the seventh straight conference victory going back to last season, the seventh longest conference winning streak in school history.
This weekend the Blugolds will be in St. Louis, Mo. for three matches at the Washington University Tournament. They will open the weekend with a single match against Washington University on Friday at 7:15 p.m. and follow with two matches Saturday.
-KM-
