BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire volleyball team resumed NCAA Division III Championship run on Wednesday at the national championship site of Illinois Wesleyean University. As the fifth seed, UW-Eau Claire drew the fourth seeded University of La Verne Leopards in the quarterfinal round. Despite dropping the first two sets, the Blugolds powered back in the third with a 25-13 set win, but eventually fell in the fourth set, 25-18, ending their tournament run in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

The opening set saw a back-and-forth battle between the Blugolds and Leopards as the frame consisted of seven tie scores and two lead changes. Eau Claire jumped out to an early 11-8 lead as Bailey Leeke captured four of her six total kills in the set in the first eleven points. The two teams battled their way through the media timeout as La Verne tied the game at 15-15. Leeke and the Blugolds swung things back in their favor at 17-16 but surrendered a 6-0 run and dropped the first set, 25-19. Leeke led UWEC in the frame with six kills and hitting at a .417 rate.

The second set began in favor of the Leopards as La Verne grabbed a 8-4 lead. The Blugolds tied the score at 8-8 with kills from Bailey Leeke and Mya Cinnamo. La Verne would answer with a 10-3 run, gaining an eight point lead. As Leopards looked to close the set at 23-15, Cinnamo and the Blugolds fought back with a 5-2 run to close the deficit to four points. The Leopards closed things out with a kill, giving them a 2-0 set lead over UWEC.

In the third, the Blugolds found momentum early off a 3-0 run that included a kill by Darienne Andre and a service ace from Alex Kiebel. La Verne would bring their deficit back to just one point (4-3), before UWEC found their groove again with multiple kills and a block from Lili Hagg and Mya Cinnamo, earning them an 7-2 run. After back-to-back blocks from La Verne, the Blugolds garnered an 8-3 run, increasing their lead to 19-10. From there, Abby Stanwood and Bailey Leeke took over and sealed the set three victory, 25-13. After three sets, Leeke and Stanwood combined for 25 total kills. Lili Hagg led the Blugolds in the efficiency department, hitting .455 with six kills. 

The Blugolds and Leopards traded points to begin the fourth set, as the two sides saw eight ties scores in the first 20 points. La Verne found the the first three point lead of the set at 13-10 as both teams continued the defensive chess match with just six kills a side at the frame's halfway mark. La Verne tipped the scales with a 6-3 run, creating a deficit that would be challenged by three kills from Abby Stanwood, but in the end, UWEC would fall, 25-18, to conclude the match.

Abby Stanwood led the offense with 16 kills and 16 points. Bailey Leeke was close behind with 15 kills and 15.5 points. Alex Kiebel recorded 42 assists and 11 digs. Kaitlyn Erickson recorded led the defense with 17 digs. 

The Blugolds finished their season with a 30-5 overall record in the Elite 8. 

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