EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's volleyball team was back at home on Wednesday night as they continued Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play with UW-Platteville in town. Despite taking two of the first three sets, the Blugolds fell to the Pioneers 3-2 after falling in the fourth and fifth sets.
 
The 140-minute match between the two squads featured prime WIAC volleyball as the two sides combined for 26 ties scores and 12 lead changes within the five sets of play. The opening set found UW-Eau Claire with an edge to start as two service aces from Ella Kiebel (So. – Maple Lake, Minn.) and multiple Platteville errors helped the Blugolds gain a 5-0 lead.  As both teams exchanged points down the stretch, the Blugolds earned the set 25-20 win with a 5-0 run, capped off by a kill from Lili Hagg (Fr. – Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah).
 
The second set saw the momentum shift away from Eau Claire as the Pioneers gained an early 9-3 lead off a 6-1 run from UWEC errors. The Blugolds closed the six-point gap to just two later in the set, but UW-Platteville collected back-to-back kills multiple times to tie the game at one set a piece.
 
The third set held a resurgence for UWEC as the Blugolds got out to a 4-1 lead off multiple blocks from Makina Larson (Fr. – Carver, Minn./Chaska) and Lilli Hagg. Larson and Hagg combined for six blocks on the night as the Blugolds recorded 12 blocks as a team.  Avery Pennekamp (So. – McFarland, Wis.) continued to lead the UWEC offense in the third with three of her 15 total kills in the middle frame. Towards the end of the set, Darienne Andre (So. – Lakeville, Minn./Rosemount) began a 3-0 run for Eau Claire with one of her game high four total service aces to help UWEC pull away. Back-to-back kills from Makina Larson and Mya Cinnamo (Fr. – Rosemount, Minn.) sealed the 25-22 set win for Eau Claire as they took a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set held a postseason atmosphere to it as the teams held 13 ties scores and 8 lead changes in the penultimate set. Both sides exchanged multi-point runs throughout the frame as Eau Claire came storming back from 20-24 to tie the game at 24-24. As extra points were needed, UW-Platteville came out victorious with back-to-back points, forcing a fifth set tiebreaker.
 
In the fifth, the Blugolds came out strong with a 7-4 lead. After a Platteville timeout later in the set, the script was flipped as UWP went on a 4-0 run, taking a 10-9 lead. With their first deficit of the tiebreaker, UWEC battled hard to get back in control, but were ultimately shut down as the Pioneers outscored the Blugolds 5-3 down the stretch, handing UW-Eau Claire their first conference loss on the year, 3-2.
 
The Blugolds (6-6, WIAC 1-1) begin a stretch of matches against ranked opponents. UWEC will travel to Iowa on Saturday, September 30^th to faceoff with #23 ranked Cornell College and Coe College. The matchup against Cornell is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Small Athletic and Wellness Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa. The contest between Eau Claire and Coe College is set to begin at 2 p.m. at the Kohawk Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.