OSHKOSH, Wis. – The No. 17 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team finished 2-1 at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational after sweeping St. Thomas 25-22, 25-12, 25-23 and falling 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22 to No. 8 Colorado College on Saturday at Kolf Sports Center.
 
Tournament Website
 
No. 17 UW-Stevens Point 3, St. Thomas 0 | Box
 
In its first match of the day, UW-Stevens Point (20-7) held St. Thomas (7-14) to a .109 attack percentage on its way to a sweep. Gabby Thomas (Henderson, MN/LeSueur-Henderson) and Kelly Cefalu (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) each had 10 kills for the Pointers, who hit .130 in the victory.
 
UW-Stevens Point hit eight aces in the match, the team's highest total in 11 matches since the Pointers had 13 in a five-set win at nationally-ranked Elmhurst on Sept. 19. Hannah Picel (West Bend, WI/West) had three of UWSP's eight aces, while Marie Krengel (Eagan, MN/Eastview) and Kendra Kundinger (Auburndale, WI/Auburndale) each had two.
 
Ellen Drewry (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) added eight kills, while Bella Nelson (Luck, WI/Luck) and Maddie Courter (Geneva, IL/Geneva) each had four, as five players combined for UW-Stevens Point's 36 kills. Brittany Laffin (Carpentersville, IL/Hampshire) had 33 assists and Picel made a team-high nine digs.
 
Taylor Lewis led all players with 13 kills for St. Thomas. Jennifer Wild made 20 digs in the loss.
 
No. 8 Colorado College 3, No. 17 UW-Stevens Point 1 | Box
 
Eighth-ranked Colorado College (25-2) hit .257 and rebounded from dropping the third set to close the Pointers out in a tight fourth set. Courtney Birkett had a triple-double of 10 kills, 20 assists and 10 digs and Abbe Holtze finished with 12 kills and 17 digs.
 
Thomas led the Pointers with a match-high 15 kills, her second-highest total of the season. Thomas hit .286 and also made 10 digs. Cefalu hit .281 and had 11 kills, while Drewry had 10 kills and was in on five blocks.
 
Courter matched her career-high with eight kills and committed just one error on 16 swings for a .438 attack percentage. Laffin had her 12th 40-plus assist performance of the season, finishing with 40.
 
Picel topped 20 digs for the 10th time this season, leading the Pointers with 23. Sophie Merrifield made a match-high 30 for the Tigers.
 
Following play, Thomas and Laffin were named to the 10-player All-Tournament Team. Thomas had double-digit kills in all three matches and Laffin had 105 assists on the weekend.
 
The Pointers return home to Berg Gym to face No. 19 UW-Oshkosh (20-5) on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. UW-Stevens Point is 18-8 against ranked teams under Abbey Sutherland.