After having an apparent victory denied moments earlier, the UW-Stevens Point volleyball team came through on match point a second time to rally for a five-game win over UW-Stout on Friday at Berg Gym.

Gina Guell (Waupun/Waupun), who had missed the last eight matches with an injury, returned to the lineup and delivered the game-winning kill as the Pointers pulled out a gripping 23-30, 30-21, 24-30, 30-24, 15-13 win over the Blue Devils in both teams' conference opener.

Moments before the winning point, UW-Stout's Casey Huntoon was serving with the Blue Devils trailing 14-13. As she contacted the ball, the scoreboard buzzer sounded from a preceding timeout. Huntoon's serve sailed long and UW-Stevens Point celebrated the victory. However, the officials huddled and determined to replay the point that eventually ended on Guell's game-winner.

UW-Stout opened the match on fire with 16 kills and one error in the opening game, but cooled off from that point. Linda Meyer had a big night for the Blue Devils with 20 kills and 13 digs.

Callie Kunde (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) and Beth Richter (Green Bay/Preble) both posted career-high kill totals for the Pointers as Kunde totaled a triple-double with 18 kills, 36 assists and 15 digs. Richter added 16 kills in the victory.

Shelly Maus (Green Bay/Green Bay Southwest) also had a solid night for UW-Stevens Point with 13 kills and eight blocks, including five solo blocks. Maus had back-to-back solo blocks to give the Pointers a 29-23 lead in the fourth game and then posted another in the fifth game that put the Pointers ahead 14-11.

UW-Stevens Point won its conference opener for the first time since 2002 and is now 11-6 overall, while UW-Stout fell to 11-4 overall. The Pointers host UW-River Falls on Saturday at noon.