DECORAH, Iowa (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball team finished off its regular season on a high note, sweeping Luther College 3-0 on Saturday to wrap up its campaign. The Blugolds were consistent throughout the victory and will carry a two-match win streak into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament next week.
The Blugolds swept the Norse 25-20, 25-18, 25-14. UW-Eau Claire held an edge in almost every statistical category.
Luther led for a good portion of the opening set, but the Blugolds mounted a surge late in the set to take a 1-0 lead. The Norse were ahead 17-14, but the Blugolds embarked on an 11-3 run to close out the set. The spurt featured kills from several different players, and aces served by
Victoria Van Dan (Jr. - Burlington, Wis.) and
Sheridan Dettmann (Sr. - Watertown, Wis.).
The Blugolds didn't need to rally in the second set. They got out to a blistering start, scoring eight of the first 11 points in the set to build an 8-3 lead.
Bailey Leeke (So. - Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) hit a pair of kills in that stretch, and Dettmann and
Ella Kiebel (So. - Maple Lake, Minn.) added an ace each. The Norse later closed the gap to 11-9, but that was as close as they could get. A run of five straight points, powered by two kills from
Mya Cinnamo (Fr. - Rosemount, Minn.), pushed the Blugolds over the edge and helped put them ahead 2-0 in the match.
UW-Eau Claire fell in a 5-2 hole to start the third set, but dominated from there to close out the set. The Blugolds won 23 of the next 35 points. That included an 8-1 run that featured five kills by
Lili Hagg (Fr. - Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah). Luther briefly led 14-13, but UW-Eau Claire won the final 12 points of the set consecutively.
Leeke and Hagg shared the match high with nine kills each. Dettmann finished with four aces and five digs.
Charlie Nelson (Sr. - Lakeville, Minn./Farmington) had 18 assists to lead the Blugolds in that category.
The Blugolds (15-13) are the No. 5 seed in the WIAC Tournament and will learn their opening-round opponent later on Saturday night. UW-Eau Claire will be on the road for that matchup, which is set for Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.
