Volleyball team gets a big come from behind win

Justin Nichols, Sports Editor

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women’s volleyball team began conference play with a thrilling come from behind victory over the Blugolds from UW-Eau Claire. UW-L has generally performed well while in the friendly confines of Mitchell Hall and the fan support and reaction definitely helps the team.

The first set was tied at nine points but UW-Eau Claire would eventually win the race to 25 and pull away as UW-L would lose the first set 19-25.

UW-L would battle back and forth in the next set as both teams found themselves deadlocked at 13 until UW-EC would eventually pull away and score themselves a 25-17 victory.

One more set loss for UW-L would mean dropping the match, so looking just to avoid the sweep UW-L would go on an impressive 7-1 run to distance themselves from the visiting Blugolds. UW-EC would battle back to make it interesting but eventually UW-L got a set victory and the momentum.

The momentum would carry over into the fourth set at UW-L would jump out to a lead and it appeared they were about to pull away and even it up until UW-EC battled back to cut the deficit to one. Heads up team play and individual talent would shine through for UW-L as they ended any notions of a UW-EC rally to tie the sets up at two apiece and force a 5th set to 15 points.

UW-EC jumped out to a 7-5 lead and the game would feature back and forth action with both sides making smart decisions to score points along with both sides committing errors but it was UW-EC who, with the game on the line, committed a service error to complete the UW-L comeback.

Statistically, UW-L had some notable standouts. Sophomore Stephanie Henk led the team with 22 kills while junior Ashley Entinger and senior Leah Putzier came in tied at second with 14.

Sophomore Madison Entinger paced the team with 36 assists while senior Jacyln Barrette came in second with 19. UW-L had four players in double digits with digs but it was senior Danica Johnson leading with 19 while sophomore Paige Schmidt was right behind her with 17.

The win, which was UW-L’s 9th overall on the season and 1st in WIAC play, matches the team’s win total from last season. Coach Hallock had this to say about her team, “This season we are starting all returners and the experience has made a big difference in our performance. The team worked hard through the spring and summer and continues to strive for improvement every day. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish this year!”

The next time UW-L will be back in action at home by time of publication will be October 9 against UW-Steven’s Point.