DUBUQUE, Iowa - 1995. That is the last time the University of Dubuque volleyball team won a conference regular season championship and with a win over former conference unbeaten, Nebraska Wesleyan University on Friday night 3-2 (25-16, 25-27, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9) the Spartans are now one step closer to that regular season conference championship. 

With one of the biggest crowds in recent memory, the Spartans and Prairie Wolves were ready for what was expected to be a back and forth battle all night long. Indeed it was as there were many high and lows throughout the match. 

The Spartans would start off on the low end as they fell behind quickly in the first set as they trailed 13-5. Then with the flip of a switch, the Spartans went on a tear scoring 20 of the final 23 points in the set including nine in a row and 12 of the final 13 points to end up with a 25-16 set win. In the early stages of the second set, the Spartans had a slim lead and eventually grew the lead to as many as six at 19-13. Just when it seemed like the Spartans were going to go up two sets to nothing the Prairie Wolves scored seven of the next eight points to even the score at 20-20. The second set could have gone either way, but the Prairie Wolves prevailed to even the sets at 1-1. 

The third set would begin with the Spartans being the aggressor getting out to a 8-2 lead. The Prairie Wolves chipped their way back into the set and eventually took their first lead of the set at 14-13. The Spartans were able to get a lead back of 17-15 but with the score even at 22-22 late, the Prairie Wolves scored the final three points to take a 2-1 set advantage. 

In a must win set four, the Spartans had a small lead early at 13-8 before the Prairie Wolves got to within one at 17-16. The Spartans made yet another run and the Spartans faithful were all in , leading 22-17 and three points away from forcing a fifth set. The Prairie Wolves made a final push scoring the next six points and grabbed the lead back at 23-22. There was no doubt there was a nervous energy inside Stoltz Sports Center with what was on the line in this game, but the Spartans used two kills and an attack error by the Prairie Wolves to clinch the fourth set 25-23 to force a winner-take-all fifth set. 

Just three days prior to tonight, the Spartans were in a fifth set battle with Augustana College and led 8-1 in the fifth set and ended up falling late. Tonight the fifth set worry would be non-existent as the momentum was all on the Spartans side as well over 500 fans rocked Stoltz Sports Center. With the Spartans leading 6-5, there was a clear attacker the Spartans were going to lean on and that was senior leader, Emma Powell. The Spartans would score the next seven points which included four kills from Powell as Spartan nation went into pandemonium knowing the Spartans were only two points away from victory. The Prairie Wolves scored three points in a row following the Spartans run, quieting the crowd for a brief moment. After a ball handling error by the Prairie Wolves, the Spartans would get their final point from none other than Powell sending Stoltz into a loud roar. 

In one of the biggest games of her career, Powell had 26 kills (career-high) in 78 attack attempts which was only two shy of tying the school record in attack attempts. Payton Uptagraft added double-digit kills with 11. Ashlyn McGinnis (27) & Alexis Kammerer (22) led the Spartans in assists. Ashlee Adler had 30 digs and the combination of Uptagraft and Caitlin Jensen had 5.5 blocks combined. 

The Spartans move to 19-8 overall and remain perfect in conference play at 6-0. 

Up Next
The Spartans will now host Buena Vista University tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. With a victory over the Beavers tomorrow, the Spartans will have at least a share of the conference regular season title and lock up the #1 seed for the conference tournament due to the head-to-head against Nebraska Wesleyan tonight.

For the Spartans to have sole possession of the conference title they will have to then defeat Wartburg College in the regular season finale on Wednesday, November 1 at 6:00 p.m. at home.