Platteville 3, Yellowjackets 0
The Yellowjacket volleyball team took to the court on Friday night, knowing they needed to pick up a pair of wins on the weekend in order to make a run toward the WIAC post-season. UW-Platteville, firmly planted in playoff position, made sure that the Yellowjackets weren't going to get any closer to the playoffs on their watch, making short work of the Yellowjackets and sending them to their second consecutive lopsided defeat. The Yellowjackets fell 3-0 to the Pioneers on Friday by scores of 15-25, 11-25 and 20-25.
The match took just 70 minutes, and as a result of the loss, the Yellowjackets need a victory on Saturday and some help in order to reach post-season play.
Kitty Tynen (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater) (Stillwater, Minn.), Nikki Gosson (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East) (Mankato, Minn.) and Jessica Zimmerman (Monticello, Minn./Monticello) (Monticello, Minn.) led the Yellowjackets with six kills apiece. Tynen's .273 attack percentage was the top among all Yellowjackets, whose team percentage was just .089. Keely Deadrick (Esko, Minn./Esko) (Esko, Minn.) had 21 of 22 set assists for the Yellowjackets. Blayke Lundberg (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) (Duluth, Minn.) had the lone service ace.
On defense, Tynen and Lundberg led the Yellowjackets with eight digs, while Erin Booth (Baldwin, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville) (Baldwin, Wis.) was right behind them with seven. Deadrick was tops with 1.5 blocks.
LeeAnn Mizgalski led Platteville with ten kills and Ali Sikic had 35 assists. Stephanie Kirchner was the Pioneers' defensive leader, with a team high 15 digs and 2.5 blocks. She was one of three players to reach double digits in digs. The Pioneers had ten more digs and two more blocks than the Yellowjackets in the match.
Saturday's match for the Yellowjackets looms large. Following Friday's action, they sit in a three-way tie for seventh place in the WIAC with UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout. UW-Stout holds the tiebreaker on the Yellowjackets, while the Eagles visit Mertz Mortorelli Gym on Saturday. A win over La Crosse, coupled with losses by Stout and UW-River Falls should be enough to get the Yellowjackets into sixth place, which would qualify them for post-season play.
The Yellowjackets defeated La Crosse 3-0 last Saturday at the 2011 La Crosse Invitational.
Saturday's match between the Yellowjackets (15-17, 1-6 WIAC) and UW-La Crosse at Mertz Mortorelli Gym will get underway at 2:00 p.m.
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