MENOMONIE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (13-7, 1-1) earned a hard-fought four-set victory on the road at UW-Stout (7-8, 1-1) on Wednesday to pick up the first conference win of the season.
 
April Gehl (Hilbert, Wis./Hilbert) racked up 27 kills, her most kills in a conference match, and had 12 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.
 
Sophomore Ellie Adams (Racine, Wis./William Horlick) picked up her 12th double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs.  Freshman Emma Peterson (Bloomington, Minn./Thomas Jefferson) led all players with 21 digs.  Fellow freshman Maddie Lawson (West Allis, Wis./Nathan Hale) had seven kills, four blocks and served up two aces.
 
Lawson recorded back-to-back aces to cap a 6-0 run as the Pointers took an early lead in the first set.  Hailey Jarr (Bloomer, Wis./Bloomer) and Rachel Hein (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) each had a kills and the duo combined for a block as the Pointers went up 11-3.  The Blue Devils got back into the set, but kills by Gehl and Lawson gave the set win to UWSP.
 
Gehl had six kills and served an ace, but the Pointers trailed most of the second set as UW-Stout evened the match.
 
Jarr sparked a 10-2 run as UWSP pulled ahead 13-7 in the third set.  The Blue Devils responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead.  Late in the set, Lawson, Gehl and Adams combined for four kills as UWSP erases a 22-20 deficit.
 
Gehl had a pair of early kills, but the Blue Devils rallied to tie the set at 9-9.  The Pointers found themselves down 20-15 following an 8-0 spurt by UW-Stout.  The Pointers rallied and Gehl buried a trio of late kills to complete the comeback to finish the win in four sets.
 
The Pointers return home on Saturday (Sept. 29) to face UW-Platteville.  The 6:00 p.m. match against the Pioneers is the Alzheimer's Awareness match and fans are encourage to wear purple.  Fans who attend the 2:00 p.m. football game against UWP can get into the volleyball match for free with their football ticket.