EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - Despite dropping the first two sets, the UW-Eau Claire women's volleyball team won the final three to defeat UW-River Falls 3-2 in the first round of the 2009 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament at the McPhee Physical Education Center tonight.

The 18th-ranked Blugolds fell 25-22 and 25-19 to start the night but came back to win 27-25 in the third set to swing the momentum in their favor. The Blugolds were able to force extra sets after being down in the third set 21-17 at one point and 25-24 at another.

Eau Claire then went on to win the fourth set 25-23 and pulled away in the fifth to take a 15-7 victory.

The Blugolds used 16 Falcon service errors to their advantage as the teams were nearly even in kills, hitting errors and hitting percentage. Eau Claire had 56 kills, 25 errors and hit .185 while River Falls finished with 53 kills, 25 errors and a .151 hitting percentage.

Four Blugolds reached double-digit kill totals with Kristen Moore (Sr.-Green Bay, Wis./Ashwaubenon) and Emily Zupon (Jr.-Antigo, Wis.) leading the way with 13. River Falls' Gina DeRosa led the match with 14.

The Blugolds also had four players in double figures in digs. Rachel Ver Voort (Jr.-Madison, Wis./Middleton) had a team-high 17 on the night while Emily Neave (Fr.-Salem, Wis./Westosha Central) led the match 38 assists.

River Falls ends its season with a 20-15 overall record while Eau Claire improves to 29-6. The Blugolds are now 3-4 all-time against the Falcons in WIAC Tournament play.

The Blugolds will now face No. 1 seed UW-Oshkosh in a WIAC Semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. Friday. UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater will play each other at 5 p.m. that day in the other semifinal. The winners will then face each other Saturday at 2:30 p.m. while the losers will play at noon for third place. All matches will be contested in Oshkosh.