STEVENS POINT, Wis. – UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (5-4) swept day two of the UWSP Invitational, beating Carroll, 3-0, and defeating Bethel, 3-1, in four sets. 

Junior April Gehl (Hilbert, Wis./Hilbert) recorded her sixth and seventh-straight double-doubles. In the first game against Carroll, she had 11 kills and 10 digs. Against Bethel, Gehl racked up 24 kills and 22 digs.
 
Fellow junior Tara Emme (St. Nazianz, Wis./Valders) had double-digit kills in both matches for the second-consecutive day. She collected 10 against Carroll and had 14 versus Bethel. Junior Rachel Hein (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) put down 13 kills in the match against Bethel.

Sophomore Hailey Jarr (Bloomer, Wis./Bloomer) had a team-high seven blocks in the first match against Carroll and freshman Maddie Lawson (West Allis, Wis./Nathan Hale) added six against Bethel. Sophomore setter Ellie Adams (Racine, Wis./William Horlick) had 22 and 53 assists, respectively, on the day.

Junior defensive specialist Lisa Bedessem (Burlington, Wis./Sauk Prairie) and freshman libero Emma Peterson (Bloomington, Minn./Thomas Jefferson) collected 18 and 17 digs, respectively, against Bethel.
 
UWSP 3, Carroll 0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-18)
The Pointers jumped out to an early 6-1 lead with Gehl and Emme combining for four kills. The Pioneers closed the lead to 7-5, but the Pointers got back-to-back kills from Hein and never looked back.

Kills from Gehl and Lawson broke a 7-7 tie sparking a 5-2 run. UWSP finished the second set on a service ace from Gehl.

Carroll began the third set scoring five of the first six points. After a Pointers timeout, Adams served eight in a row giving UWSP a 9-5 lead. With the game tied at 17-all, kills from Emme, Hein, Gehl, and Lawson and two service aces from Peterson capped off an 8-1 run to close out the set and complete the sweep of the Pioneers.

UWSP 3, Bethel 1 (28-26, 25-16, 24-26, 26-24)
The Pointers and Royals traded points the entire first set. Four kills in the middle of the set by Gehl put UWSP up 14-11. A 6-2 run with kills from Emme, Hein and a service ace from Ali Zamzow (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) finished the first set in favor of UWSP, 28-26.

​​​​​​​Gehl, Emme, Hein, and Jarr led the Pointers' offense to a 17-10 advantage. A kill by Emme sparked a 6-1 run with a kill by Lawson closing out the second set.

Again, UWSP and Bethel swapped points in the third set. The Pointers' offense spread the ball, with five different players getting kills in the set. The Royals fought off match point and went on a 3-0 run to avoid the sweep, taking the third set, 26-24.

The Pointers fell behind 5-1 early in the fourth set, but three kills from Gehl brought UWSP within one. Down 9-15, kills by Hein, Gehl and Lawson again brought the Pointers within one. The Royals couldn't stop the Pointers from battling back a third time. Three kills each from Emme and Hein tied the set at 23. After surviving a Royal's set point, a kill form Gehl sparked a 3-0 run to win the fourth set and take the match.

​​​​​​​UWSP heads out on the road to compete in the WIAC/MWC Quad on Wednesday (Sept. 12) in De Pere against St. Norbert at 5:30 p.m. and Lawrence University at 7:30 p.m.