STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 20 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (19-7, 3-3) played another five-set thriller at home with visiting No. 6 UW-Whitewater (22-2, 5-1) on Wednesday. The Pointers rallied twice, but fell, 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9).
 
Ashley Kopp (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) posted yet another double-double with a match-high 26 kills and a team-best 21 digs. She also became just the third player in school history to reach the 1,500-career kills plateau.
 
Grace Michalske (Wausau, Wis./West) led all players with 46 assists in the match. Early in the second set, she reached 3,000 career assists, just the fourth player in program history to reach that milestone.
 
Lauren Shaw (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) was also in double figures with 14 kills. Tessa Erlandson (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon Wanamingo) and Ryleigh Zeller (Muskego, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) posted double-digit digs with 16 and 14, respectively. Zeller led all players with four aces.
 
Sydney Mosinski (Nevada, Iowa/Nevada) had a pair of blocks as UWSP battled back to get within 8-6 in the first set. Mosinski had three-straight kills and Ella Trieloff (Park Ridge, Ill./St. Viator) served an ace to give UWSP a 12-10 after a 6-0 run. Kopp had five kills and Shaw added two late as the Pointers held a 22-21 lead. UWW closed the set with 4-0 run.
 
Kopp and Shaw had a pair of kills each early in the second for an 8-7 edge. The teams continued to trade points until UWW gained set point. Three-straight errors by the Warhawks let the Pointers even the match at 1-1.
 
Olivia Paukner (Prairie Du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) had a kill early, but a 10- run by UWW put the Pointers in a 19-11 hole in the third. Shaw had three late kills as UWSP brushed aside four set points before the Warhawks took the third set, 25-21.
 
Trieloff served up consecutive aces in a 4-0 burst as UWSP pulled even at 9-9 in the fourth. Zeller added a pair of aces in an 8-0 run as UWSP took an 18-14 lead. Shaw and Kopp had two kills each late as UWSP secured the fourth set.
 
Two early kills by Kopp kept UWSP close in the fifth, 5-3. After a 5-0 run by UWW put the Pointers down, 11-4, Shaw, Mosinski and Kopp combined for four kills. But the Warhawks prevailed in five, 15-9.
 
The Pointers will hit the road for the remainder of the regular season beginning with a pair of matches at the Elmhurst Tournament on Saturday (Oct. 28). UWSP will face Wheaton at 12:30 p.m. before playing host Elmhurst at 3:00 p.m.