The UW-Platteville volleyball team refocused their strategy to defeat UW-Eau Claire and UW-Superior on the road.

Photograph by Stephanie Coren
Senior Lisa Bell jumps for the ball against UW-Stevens Point Sept. 16. The Pioneers lost to the Pointers in five sets.

Following the loss against UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 16, the Pioneers spent their time at practice focusing on finishing games and playing solid until the end.  The team reviewed scouting reports and practiced playing in high-pressure situations.

“We tend to get too comfortable with a lead, and then let it go,” freshman Samantha Rampart said. “This week we really worked on playing hard until the end and finishing games.”

The volleyball team focused on scrimmaging during practice to prepare for their competition Sept. 18 and 19.  Freshman Melanie Bailiff said scrimmaging within the team allowed the team to see where the opponent would put the ball and how their defense would set up during the games.

The Pioneer’s defeated the No. 13 ranked UW-EC Blugolds in three sets, with the first match 25-23, the second match 25-18 and the third match 25-22.

“ [We want] to play well like we know we can, to improve our serving in order to take out the other team’s offense, and play together as a team,” sophomore Ali Sikic said.

UW-P traveled to defeat the UW-Superior Yellowjackets on Sept. 19 in another three-set sweep with the first match 25-15, the second match 25-22 and the third match 25-20.

“We wanted to take all of the things we have been working on in practice and execute them in the game,” added sophomore Briana Kaiser.

The team’s strong serving proved to be one of the team’s biggest strengths of the weekend’s wins.  The Pioneers improved their serve-receive passes to take UW-EC and UW-Superior out of their offense.

“[The games] had much more aggressive serving which we had struggled with in other games,” junior Melissa Hillebrand said.

Hillebrand led UW-P with 25 kills for the weekend while Rampart added 23.  Senior Lisa Bell had 11 kills against the Yellowjackets and Sikic gave a strong defensive effort with 43 digs.

Pioneer volleyball now sits at a 5-4 overall record and a 2-1 record in the WIAC.

UW-P will be hosting a six-team tournament starting at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 in the Williams Fieldhouse.