The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Women’s Volleyball team faced their third Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent in a row at home on Oct. 19, 2016. UWL came into the game riding high after consecutively knocking off WIAC foes in The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, with Oshkosh being nationally ranked 21^st and Stevens Point 10^th respectively. After two big wins momentum was on the eagles side as they faced a sputtering River Falls team who had only won five out of their last ten.

UWL jumped out to a quick three to nothing lead in the first set, River Falls answered with a few of their own but UWL maintained control throughout with consistently dominant scores of seven to two, 12 to three, and 19 to eight. The eagles showed why they were ranked 13^th in the latest American Coaches Association Top-25 poll as River Falls called timeout twice during the first match alone to try and slow their momentum. The Longest volley of the game occurred with the score 21 to 11 before UWL’s Stephanie Henk smashed a kill to the far right corner to end it. The set ended with a miscue on the serve from River Falls as the first set went soundly to the eagles.

River Falls began the second set with three to zero lead but La Crosse responded with a couple close saves near the back line to crawl back ahead at six to five. Midway through the set it was clear UWL was having a bit more trouble, with a few easy points being missed on serves and potential kills. River Falls begins to jump ahead on good team play and placement of shots, and with the score 10-15 in favor of the visitors UWL coach Lilly Hallock was forced to call a timeout to regroup. Directly after the break three key blocks in a row gave UWL the lead back as a two-point deficit was quickly turned into a three-point lead within seconds. From then on UWL tacked on easy points off of River Fall’s unforced errors and poor play, with the score at 21 to 16 for the home team, the falcons called a timeout in hopes of staying alive. Just seconds later with the score at 23 to 17 a critical moment occurred when players for both teams met in the center and hit the ball at the same time, but luck fell to the eagles’ side as it dropped in for their nearly definitive 24^th point.

In the third set both teams traded points early but with the score knotted at three apiece UWL earned back the serve, from then on was five straight points for the home team to pull further ahead. River Falls continued to struggle in keeping the serve theirs as they hand it right back to UWL which allowed Ashley Entinger to respond by putting in another kill to widen the margin by nine. From then on UWL cruised to a victory with the final score reading 25-8, ending on one of nine of Jill Entinger’s kills. The victory completed a home sweep while also taking sole possession of first place in the WIAC.

Up next for UWL is the “UWL Triangular” this Saturday; the team will host a tournament comprised of three teams including The University of Wisconsin-Stout, Carroll University, as well as themselves. The first game begins at 10:30am against Stout and will continue until the last match at 3:30pm versus Carroll.