DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Stoltz Sports Center was the place to be Wednesday night as the University of Dubuque Spartans welcomed in the Kohawks of Coe College in a pivotal conference match. In the past four seasons, the Kohawks had the Spartans number but that streak ended tonight as the Spartans defeated the Kohawks in four sets (16-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-18). 

The Spartans were unable to capture the momentum early on as they never seized the lead in the opening set falling 25-16. The Kohawks out hit the Spartans with 14 kills compared to the Spartans four. 

Set two featured stretches of runs by both teams including five ties and two lead changes. Once again, the Kohawks jumped out to an early lead as the Spartans trailed 12-5. Out of a timeout the Spartans ripped off a 7-1 run bringing the Spartans within one (13-12). Coe would respond with a run of their own extending the lead out to 22-17. Trailing by five, the Spartans closed out the set on an 8-0 run completing the come from behind win to even the match at 1-1. Ashlee Adler helped ignite the run with a kill and two service aces.

Back to an even scoreboard with one win a piece, the battle continued in the third set. Halfway through both teams were knotted at 14-14 before the Spartans regained the lead off a kill from Emma Powell followed by a service ace from Katie Wright to seize control. A few plays later Powell rattled off three straight points with one of her seven kills in the set and back-to-back service aces leading the Spartans to a 25-17 win.

In the fourth set, the Spartans found themselves down early on. Trailing 14-10, the Spartans used a 5-0 run, including three service aces from Powell to capture the lead at 15-14. Coe would soon force the eighth tie of the set at 16-16. From there it was all Spartans as the next eight points belonged to the home team. Adler sparked an 8-0 run with a kill followed by three straight kills from Payton Uptagraft eventually leading to a 25-18 win. 

A trio of Spartans finished the game with double-digit kills. Leading the way with 15 kills was Powell followed by Adler and Uptagraft with 10 each. Setter Alexis Kammerer recorded 27 of the team's 40 assists in the win. Defensively, Adler posted a team leading 18 kills while Wright had 12 and Powell with 10.

With the win over Coe, the Spartans improve to 16-5 on the year and 4-0 in conference. Currently, the Spartans are tied for first with four conference games remaining.

Up Next
The Spartans will travel to Wisconsin this weekend for a tournament at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Spartans will face stout competition as they play nationally ranked #7 Whitewater on Saturday, October 14 at 12:30 p.m. and #17 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 4:30 p.m.