EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (12-1) rebounded from its first setback of the season to down Lakeland (5-3) in the nightcap, 3-1, at the UW-Eau Claire Tournament on Friday. The Pointers played their first five set match of the year and fell to St. Thomas (6-4) by a 15-11 score in the decisive fifth set.
Senior
Kelly Cefalu (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) and
Gabby Thomas (Henderson, MN/LeSueur-Henderson) again led the way on the UWSP attack with each recording double digit kills in both matches. Cefalu had 17 kills in the win over the Muskies, the highest total by an individual in either match.
Freshman
Abby Majercik (Johnsburg, IL/Johnsburg) was busy and very productive for the Pointers on Friday. She combined for 99 assists on the day, racking up 55 in the five-set match against St. Thomas.
Senior
Bri Piepenbrok (Merrill, WI/Merrill) tallied 31 digs against the Tommies. She added 21 more against Lakeland in the nightcap.
Against St. Thomas, the Pointers prevailed in the first set, 29-27. UWSP hit .159 versus St. Thomas' .129 in a hotly contested first set. UWSP outhit UST in the next two sets, but the teams split heading to the fourth set with UWSP ahead 2-1. The Tommies hit .224 in the fourth set, the highest hitting set by either side, to even the match. Neither team hit well in the fifth set, but St. Thomas edged the decisive set to hand UWSP its first loss of the season.
UWSP steadily improved its hitting percentage as the match against Lakeland progressed. After dropping the first set by a 25-21 score, the Pointers racked up a match-high 16 kills to take the second set 25-18. In the pivotal third set, UWSP edged the Muskies 26-24 with 15 more kills. The fourth set went the way of the Pointers as UWSP hit .225 and rolled 25-10 in the fourth and final set.
The Pointers wrap up play at the UW-Eau Claire Tournament on Saturday with a 10:00 a.m. match against Concordia (Minn.) and a 2:00 p.m. tilt versus Dominican (Ill.). UWSP opens WIAC play on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Berg Gym versus UW-Platteville.