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| Rochelle Ripp had 29 digs. |
Seventh-seeded UW-Platteville will play for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship after beating UW-Eau Claire in four games during Friday's semifinal at UW-Whitewater.
The Pioneers downed the third-seeded Blugolds 32-30, 30-28, 27-30, 30-24 to advance to their second championship match in three years. UWP, now 24-11, faces the winner of Friday night's later match between host and top-seeded UW-Whitewater vs. fourth-seed UW-La Crosse. UW-Eau Claire will face the loser of the UWW-UWL match at noon Saturday in the consolation match, with the championship to follow at 2:30 p.m.
UWP hit just .120 but came up with 111 defensive digs, the most this season in a four-game match. Rochelle Ripp had 29 digs and Rachel Chapman 25, while Stephanie Tronnes recorded seven of the team's 20 blocks. Lisa Bell had 15 kills, and Melissa Hillebrand 14 to lead the Pioneers' offense, which was set up by Kelly Laschinger's 44 assists.
The two teams split their regular-season matches with each team winning on their home court, but the Pioneers (now 24-11) beat the Blugolds (22-9) in the rubber match to advance to the championship.
The Pioneers won the WIAC championship in their last title appearance, sweeping UW-Eau Claire in three games as the fifth seed in 2005. Last year, also as a seventh seed, the Pioneers placed third.
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