STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 13 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team saw its 23-match home winning streak come to an end, falling in three close sets 25-22, 25-22, 29-27 to UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday evening in the team's Attacking Alzheimer's match at Berg Gym.

Box Score

UW-Eau Claire (16-6, 2-1 WIAC), which was receiving votes in this week's national poll, used a balanced offensive attack with five players with at least seven kills to hit .263 in the win. The loss was the first for UW-Stevens Point (18-5, 1-2 WIAC) at home since the Blugolds swept the Pointers in the 2013 WIAC Championship match on Nov. 3, 2012.

Hannah Theisen led UW-Eau Claire with 15 kills and was joined in double figures Katrina Raskie with 10. Kelly Riesgraf, Emily Miller and Keagan Kinsella pitched in with nine, eight and seven, respectively, while Jenna Smits made 43 assists.

Kelly Cefalu (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) had a match-high 16 kills and 10 digs for UW-Stevens Point, her 10th consecutive match with at least a dozen kills. Danielle Coleman (Rockford, IL/Keith Country Day ) recorded a career-high 11 kills and hit .308 for the Pointers in the loss.

The Pointers raced out to a 5-1 lead early in the first set but the Blugolds quickly responded to take a 7-6 lead with five-straight points. UW-Stevens Point led by as many as four but UW-Eau Claire hung around and eventually tied the score at 22-22. The visitors then won the final three points on kills by Miller and Theisen and an ace by Miller.

The Blugolds opened the second by winning five of the first six points and eventually led 10-4. The Pointers got within one, 23-22, late in the set but UW-Eau Claire closed it out on a kill by Theisen and an ace by Kelsey Kowitz. After hitting .362 in the first, the Blugolds hit .297 in the second, compared to .171 for UW-Stevens Point.

Looking to close out the sweep, UW-Eau Claire led 14-9 midway through the third set before UW-Stevens Point used a 4-0 run, including three-straight kills by Cefalu, to tie it at 16-16. The Pointers saved three match points on kills by Bella Nelson (Luck, WI/Luck), Coleman and a UWEC attack error only for Theisen to hammer two kills to end the match.

Bri Piepenbrok (Merrill, WI/Merrill) registered her fourth 20-dig performance of the season, finishing with a match-high 20. Hannah Picel (West Bend, WI/West) added 11 and Marie Krengel (Eagan, MN/Eastview) contributed nine to go over the 1,000-dig milestone for her career. The Pointers hit .196 in the match.

Talia Jaskulske had 19 digs and Raskie had 17 for UW-Eau Claire, which had seven aces in the match.

UW-Stevens Point looks to return to the win column at UW-La Crosse on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.