HOLLAND, Mich. – The No. 23 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (23-11) nearly pulled off a repeat performance pushing NCAA Tournament regional host and No. 2 Hope (28-2) to a decisive fifth set before falling, 3-2 (20-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-16, 10-15).
 
Post-Game Press Conference

Junior Ashley Kopp (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) posted a match-high and season-high 27 kills to vault into the national lead with 593 kills this season. It's the second-most in a single season by any UWSP player. It is also the most kills Kopp has had in any of her three seasons at UWSP. She also added 15 digs for her 24th double-double of the season.
 
Fellow junior Grace Michalske (Wausau, Wis./West) posted a career-high tying 55 assists, her fifth career match with 50 or more assists. She also had 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
 
Lauren Shaw (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) was in double figures with 17 kills. Tessa Erlandson (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon Wanamingo) led all players with 22 digs. Ryleigh Zeller (Muskego, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) added 19 digs. Sydney Mosinski (Nevada, Iowa/Nevada) added nine kills and a game-high six blocks.
 
Kopp recorded her first kill of the night to spark a 3-1 run out of the gate. Shaw racked up four kills as UWSP went ahead 15-13. Kopp added two kills late, but Hope used a 9-3 run to take the first set.
 
Mosinski had two kills and a block as UWSP kept it close to begin the second, 8-7. Kopp registered five kills, but Hope went on a 13-5 run to go up 2-0.
 
Kopp had three kills as UWSP went in front, 7-4 early in the third set. Shaw and Summer Salettel (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam) had a kill and a block each and Mosinski had four blocks in an 8-1 burst as the Pointers led 16-10. Kopp had a kill and an ace with Shaw adding a kill and a block as a 5-1 run gave UWSP the set.
 
Shaw had five early kills, Kopp had four and Carly Thomka (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) added two each as the Pointers jumped ahead, 13-9, in the fourth. Kopp and Mosinski combined for eight more sets as the Pointers forced a decisive fifth set for the second-straight night.
 
Kopp had two kills, but Hope jumped out to an 11-4 lead. Shaw had three kills as the Pointers didn't give up. Kopp thwarted the first match point with a kill, but Hope closed out the match to end the Pointers' season.
 
The Pointers reached the NCAA Tournament this season for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons. It was the fifth time in the those six trips to the NCAA Tournament that UWSP advanced to the regional semifinal or further.