STEVENS POINT, Wis. – In front of the biggest crowd in program history, the No. 24 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (17-9, 4-1) posted the most blocks in a match in more than a dozen years in nearly pulling off a reverse sweep of No. 6 UW-Oshkosh (22-4, 4-1).
Sophomore
Carly Thomka (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) had a career night with 14 total blocks, the first time in her career in double figures. As a team, the Pointers had 19 blocks on the night, the most since at least 2012.
Senior
Ashley Kopp (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) had yet another double-double. She had a match-high 27 kills, surpassing the 2,100-kill plateau for her career. She added 10 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.
Grace Michalske (Wausau, Wis./West) also had a double-double with a match-high 48 assists. She had 10 digs.
Abby Nevins (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) led UWSP with 19 digs.
Tessa Erlandson (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon Wanamingo) added 12.
Kopp had four kills early in the first set as UWSP trailed just 10-9. Thomka had four blocks, but a 5-0 run propelled UWO to a 25-16 win in the first set.
Sydney Mosinski (Nevada, Iowa/Nevada),
Lauren Shaw (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and Kopp combined for eight kills as UWSP began the second in front, 11-7. The Titans posted a 9-0 run and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 win in set two.
Shaw had two kills and an ace as UWSP jumped ahead 6-1 in the third.
Zoe Kramer (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) had back-to-back kills to halt a 12-3 run by UWO. Thomka had three blocks and an ace, but the Pointers were down, 22-20 late. Erlandson served an ace to tie at 23-23 and Shaw recorded a kill for 24-all. Kopp sandwiched a Thomka block with kills as UWSP took the third set, 27-25.
Kopp and Kramer combined for five kills as the teams tied 8-8 in the fourth. Kopp had two more kills as UWSP trailed 16-14. Kopp had the first of five kills down the stretch to spark a 9-2 run as UWSP forced a fifth set with a 26-24 win in set four.
Thomka had three blocks and Kopp had a trio of kills as UWSP went up 10-2 in the fifth. Kopp had another kill and Thomka a block, but the Titans rallied hack for a 15-13 win to take the match.
The Pointers will travel to UW-River Falls on Wednesday (Oct. 30) for a 7:00 p.m. match.