Posted November 7, 2009
The good news for UW-Platteville is the Pioneers played in the third-place match at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. The bad news? Top-ranked UW-Oshkosh lined up on the other side.
The host Titans, upset losers to UW-Eau Claire Friday night, edged the Pioneers 18-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 16-14 in a thriller Saturday afternoon.
UW-Oshkosh, which will host an NCAA III regional next week, improved to 35-2, while the Pioneers fell to 22-14 and will wait word to see if they earned a bid. UWP was ranked fifth in the region heading into the WIAC semifinals, but lost 3-0 to #7 UW-Whitewater and to #1 UW-Oshkosh.
Melissa Hillebrand banged home 22 kills, one shy of her career high, to lead the UWP upset bid. Briana Kaiser and Samantha Rampart each added 12 kills, while Ali Sikic dished out 54 assists. Defensively, Lisa Bell had seven blocks, and Abby Carey recorded 26 digs.
Jacque Ray had 19 kills and Andrea Smith 16 for the Titans, who never trailed in the decisive fifth set. The Pioneers tied the score at 14-14, but UWO scored the final two points to secure the win.
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