WHITEWATER, Wis. - On Saturday the University of Dubuque women's volleyball team traveled to the state of Wisconsin for an invitational hosted by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Spartans played two nationally ranked teams this afternoon, first the #7 Warhawks of Wisconsin-Whitewater and then the #17 Pointers of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Spartans would fall in three sets to both teams.
The Spartans would grab the first point of the opening set off a Kill from
Ashlee Adler but the Warhawks quickly regained the lead. The Warhawks maintained in front for the rest of the set as the Spartans lost 25-9. Halfway through the second set, the Spartans continued to battle as
Emma Powell recorded a kill cutting the deficit to five (13-8). The hosts would go on a 12-2 run to close out the second set as the Spartans fell 25-10. Early in the third set both teams continued to trade points as the Warhawks held a slim two point advantage over the Spartans (11-9). As the set continued the Warhawks led 22-14 but the Spartans were unable to complete a comeback after a 3-0 run as the Spartans lost 25-17.
Powell led the Spartans with eight kills followed by Adler with five. Setters
Alexis Kammerer and
Ashlyn McGinnis combined for 16 of the team's 19 assists.
The Second game of the afternoon featured another Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) team in the Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers. Both teams were neck and neck in the first set as the Pointers led 14-13. The Pointers would grab the first set as they closed on an 11-3 run (25-16). Once again, the Spartans were right there with the Pointers as the score was knotted at 7-7. The Spartans would go on a 4-0 run with a few errors by the Pointers along with a kill from Powell and
Alexis Bedier to take an 11-8 lead. After a kill from
Delaney Dietz broke the 17-17 tie, the Spartans held a one point advantage (18-17). The final eight of the last nine points belonged to the Pointers as the Spartans fell 25-19. In the third set, the Spartans jumped out to the largest lead of the day at 12-5 with kills from a host of Spartans including
Morgan Hunter,
Ashley Glennon,
Payton Uptagraft, Bedier, and Powell. After surrendering the lead back to the Pointers, the Spartans regained the lead at 22-21. However, the Spartans would come up short as they were defeated 25-23.
A duo of Spartans recorded double digit kills as
Alexis Bedier led the team with 11 kills followed by Powell with 10. McGinnis and Kammerer dished out a total of 31 of the team's 35 assists. As the Invitational came to a close,
Emma Powell was named to the All-Tournament Team for her performance. She finished the day with a total of 18 kills and 17 digs.
Up Next
The Spartans will continue conference next week as they play at Luther College on Wednesday, October 18. The game is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.
