UW-Stevens Point 3, UW-Stout 1 |
Game Video
MENOMONIE (October 30, 2018) - UW-Stout fell behind 2-0, came back to win the third set, but UW-Stevens Point blew into Johnson Fieldhouse and took the fourth set to earn a 3-1 win over the Blue Devils Tuesday in the first round of the WIAC Volleyball Championship (presented by Culver's).
The fourth seeded Blue Devils (16-13), hosting a first round game for the first time since 2004, had to battle uphill most of the evening. The fifth seeded Pointers captured the night 25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18 to advance to the second round of the tournament where they will face top-seeded UW-Eau Claire, Thursday, Nov. 1.
The first set was tight, coming to 15-15 before the Pointers went on a 5-0 run to build what would eventually become a seven point cushion. The Pointers (18-15) dominated the beginning of the second set, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. Stout pulled to within three points, 15-12, but the gap proved to be too much as Stevens Point finished on a 10-4 advantage.
The Pointers took a 7-3 lead in set three, but the Blue Devils went on a 12-6 advantage and were able to hold off the Pointers.
The momentum blew back to the Pointers in the fourth set, who built up a 17-9 lead. Stout would get as close as 18-15 following a kill by
Kennedy Strain and a service ace by
Amber Ripley, but that would be it as Stevens Point finished was a 7-3 push.
The Pointers' April Gehl blew through the Fieldhouse and finished with 21 kills, six in each of the first, second and fourth sets. Gehl also recorded 22 digs, one solo block and two assisted blocks. Rachel Hein added 11 kills for the Pointers.
Strain led Stout in her final match as a Blue Devil, finishing with 11 kills. Strain finished her career with 1130 kills, finishing eighth on the Blue Devils' all-time list. She also finished with 107 career solo blocks and 243 assisted blocks, sixth on the all-time list
McKylie Hoff and
Amber Ripley finished the night with 10 kills apiece.
Jessica DuVal had 38 assists.
Junior libero
Steph Cannon continued to rewrite the Blue Devils record book. Two weeks ago, Cannon broke the school all-time digs record and finished the season with 1564 career digs. Cannon came into the game needing nine digs to match the single season digs record, and tallied a match-high 27 digs to finish the season with 675 digs.
The night marked the first time Stout had hosted a WIAC Tournament game since 2004.
