One half of the WIAC Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinals was settled in Mitchell Hall on Thursday, Nov. 2, as the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse Eagles (19-6 in regular season, 7-0 in WIAC) battled the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh Titans (20-14 in regular season, 3-4 in WIAC).

The Eagles earned the number one seed in the WIAC Women’s Volleyball Championship and earned a first round bye earlier this week. While the Titans came in as the five-seed defeating the number four-seeded University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point on October 31 to advance to the semifinals.

“I had a lot of confidence in our team going into this game. We’ve beat them before and we knew we could do it again,” said UWL Senior Paige Schmidt, “We knew that it would be more challenging because they’ve [the Titans] improved throughout the season and we could see that from watching film.”

In the first set, the Eagles established a 10-5 lead.

“I was definitely feeling a lot of different emotions during that first set. But mostly it was confidence in us as a team to get the job done,” explained Schmidt.

UWL won the first set 25-13 and never let the Titans get within five points of their lead on a kill by UWL Senior Stephine Henk.

“Going into the second set we knew that we were capable of more and we could amp it up a little bit still. We knew that if we could do that, the game would be ours,” said UWL Junior Marisa Johnson.

The second set was less one-sided than the first. The Eagles had the lead with the score 18-15, but after a timeout, the Titans rallied and took the lead with 19-18.

After briefly regaining the lead, the second set was ultimately claimed by the Titans 25-23. Sending the match into the third set tied 1-1 in a five-set match. Throughout the second set neither team gained more than a three-point lead.

Schmidt said, “After we lost, no one felt any pressure or nerves. We kept our confidence and continued to work as a team to accomplish our goals and to get the win.”

The Eagles opened the third set with a seven-point run, making the score 8-2. The lead was maintained throughout the set as UWL won 25-15 on a 4-0 run to take the match lead 2-1.

With the match on the line, the fourth set started out with UWL taking a 5-1 lead. The Eagles were still able to keep at minimum a four-point lead throughout the set at times growing that lead to six. The Eagles won the set 25-18 winning the match 3-1.

Johnson said, “We felt like we could finish it right there. The feeling of having only one more set left to continue on and get the championship made it so much easier.”

“In the fourth and final set we knew it was over. It was closer than the third, but without a doubt we were getting that win. We aren’t ready for our season to be over and we wanted to earn another practice and another game,” said Schmidt.

With the win tonight against the Titans, UWL returns to the WIAC Women’s Volleyball Championship game for the second straight year. Last year they lost to University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 3-1. They have a chance at redemption against the Warhawks and with a victory Saturday, Nov. 4 at UWL’s Mitchell Hall. A victory will give them an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III National Championships.

This year three players and Head Coach Amber Dunn earned awards from the WIAC. UWL Senior Stephanie Henk earned her second straight Offensive Player of the Year award and joined UWL Senior Madison Entinger and Johnson on the All-WIAC Volleyball Team. First year Head Coach Dunn received the WIAC Volleyball Coach of the Year award.

Schmidt and Johnson both agreed saying, “We are extremely proud of (Head) Coach Amber Dunn… She’s done great things here so far for a program and we are glad she has been recognized for it.”