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| The Pioneers reached the WIAC title game |
UW-Platteville's impressive run through the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament ended Saturday with a hard-fought four-game loss at top-seeded UW-Whitewater.
The Warhawks topped the seventh-seeded Pioneers 30-17, 21-30, 30-14, 30-23 to claim the league's automatic berth into the NCAA III playoffs. The Warhawks, ranked seventh in the country, will take a 31-4 mark into the tournament. The Pioneers finished with a 24-12 record after upsetting second-seeded UW-Oshkosh Tuesday and third-seeded UW-Eau Claire Friday.
"It was a great effort," Coach Deb Schulman said. "They played hard all the way through. We didn't have our best match, and we needed to bring our A game to beat them...There's nothing to hang our heads about. We had a great tournament and had the conference talking."
Rachel Chapman had 11 kills and 17 digs to lead the Pioneers, while Rochelle Ripp added 17 digs, and Melissa Hillebrand had eight kills.
Kelly Laschinger had 27 assists and finished her career as the school's all-time leader with 4,948. She and Lynn Schreiner are the lone seniors for the Pioneers.
"They do need to be proud of what they accomplished," Schulman said. "It was definitely a great run, a great experience."
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