Blue Devils comeback comes up just short in loss to River Falls

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MENOMONIE (October 1, 2014) - Despite a furious comeback from a 14-9 deficit in the fifth set, the UW-Stout volleyball team was unable to overcome a balanced River Falls attack, falling 3-2 in five sets at Johnson Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

After dropping the first set 25-22, the Blue Devils reeled off two quick wins in succession, 25-16 and 25-20. In the fourth set, the Blue Devils (11-6, 1-1 WIAC) led for much of it before the balanced Falcons (8-7, 3-0 WIAC) pulled away at the end for a 25-21 win. The fifth set was also full of drama, as Stout fell behind early 8-3 and later 14-9. However, the Blue Devils refused to go without a fight, battling back to tie the game up. The teams would continue to trade points all the way up to 19 before the Falcons were able to score twice in a row to close out the victory.

Leading the way for the Blue Devils were the hard-hitting Morgan Denny (Sr, Luck) and Laura Reiter (Jr, Lino Lakes, Minn.). Denny finished with 15 kills while Reiter had 13 and both had a kill percentage higher than .300. Ashley Pratt (Fr, Lakeville, Minn.) also contributed 10 kills for Stout while Karley Wiensch (Sr, Chippewa Falls) handled the setting responsibilities, assisting on 45 of Stout's 49 total kills. Wiensch also had 16 digs. Molly Brion (Jr, Cameron) and Nicole Bradford (Sr, Ridgeland) were also active defensively, recording 18 and 20 digs, respectively.

For River Falls, Rebecca Gasper and Katie Duff had 10 kills apiece while Raven Kline had 41 assists.

Up next, the Blue Devils will face UW-Oshkosh and Luther College on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the UW-La Crosse Volleyball Invitational in La Crosse. Stout squares off against Oshkosh at 10:30 a.m. before playing Luther at 12:30 p.m. Stout will return home during Homecoming week for a match-up against the College of St. Scholastica on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.