Volleyball sweeps day one in Wisconsin
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The Simpson women's volleyball team emerged as one of only two undefeated teams after the first day of the 2009 UW-Platteville Volleyball Tournament with a pair of 3-0 sweeps Friday afternoon. Simpson opened with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-9 victory over St. Norbert and finished the day with a win against the host Pioneers, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20.
The Storm (7-5, 3-0 IIAC) won their third-straight match, joining top-ranked UW-Oshkosh atop the leader-board after the first day of the tournament. The Titans (17-0, 3-0 WIAC) swept Iowa Conference-foe Loras to begin the day, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22. They finished the day with a four-set win against UW-Stout, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20.
Middle hitter Whitney Oviatt (Sr., Carnation, Wash.) turned in six blocks in Simpson's second match of the day, leading a defensive effort that held the Pioneers to a .098 hitting percentage in the match. Lara Gillespie's (Sr., Lake Park, Iowa) 10 kills led the way for Simpson while Megan Dunlavy (So., Bettendorf, Iowa) posted a game-high .357 hitting percentage.
Senior setter Tara Christensen (Hinton, Iowa) ran the offense to the tune of 30 assists, while libero Brittany Friesth (Sr., Adel, Iowa) got things started with 12 digs.
The Red and Gold conclude the UW-Platteville Volleyball Tournament Saturday when it faces UW-Stout at noon and clashes with No. 1 UW-Oshkosh in the tournament finale at 2 p.m.
