EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Conference champions picked up the 2012 regular season right where they left off a year ago – with a win against a conference foe.

The UW-Stevens Point volleyball opened the season with wins against UW-Stout and St. Kate's in the UW-Eau Claire tournament Friday.

The Pointers defeated Stout in four sets: 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20. Morgan Bartkowiak (Slinger, WI/Slinger), Kati Rau (Dorchester, WI/Colby), and Sarah Wildish (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls) recorded eight kills in the win over Stout. Hannah Picel (West Bend, WI/West Bend West) led the team with 18 digs and Wildish added 15 digs of her own.

Alexis Hartman (Deer Park, IL/Lake Zurich) led the way with 28 assists for UWSP. Both Allison Davis (Rochelle, IL/Rochelle Township) and Wildish added two aces. Davis also led with pointers with 6.5 blocks.

The Pointers came away with a clean sweep over St. Kate's:  25-16, 25-10, 25-20.

Davis added three more aces in the nightcap. Bartkowiak led the Pointers with nine blocks, while Christina Brinkman (Bristol, WI/Westosha Central) led the team with eight digs. Hartman tallied another 28 assists on the day's effort.

The Pointers square off against St. Benedict and Concordia-Moorhead Saturday to round out the weekend's tournament.