The Falcon volleyball team earned a thrilling win over UW-Platteville to improve to 2-0 in the WIAC for the first time since the 2003 season.  The Falcons took the first set 25-22, before falling 12-25 in the second and 23-25 in the third.  This set up a match-set for the Pioneers, but the relentless Falcons came storming back to win 29-27 to force the deciding game five, in which they prevailed in another  thriller, 20-18.

Leading the way for the Falcons was a red-hot Erin Green (Fridley, MN, Fridley).  She slammed a season's best 27 kills to supercharge the potent Falcon offense.  Green also led UWRF with four ace blocks.  As a team, the Falcons had eight.  UWP had five.

Jean Theis (Shakopee, MN, Shakopee) also had a strong game for UWRF, who is off to their best start since the 2003 season when they finished 35-6.  Theis punched 16 kills in 36 attempts for a solid .389 kill percentage.

Kaylee Jacobs (Glenwood, MN, Minnewaska) added nine kills and Brianna Muetzel (Oakdale, MN, Cretin-Derham Hall) eight for the balanced effort.

Mackenzie Suda (Ham Lake, MN, Blaine) again had a nice performance, setting the Falcon hitters up with 54 assists.

Courtney Preiner (Oakdale, MN, Hill-Murray) also turned in an all-around day, coming up with a season's best 34 digs.  She also had three service aces.  As a team, the Falcons had seven.  Platteville meanwhile, only managed four on the stingy Falcon defense.

"The teams we played early in the season proved to be a help in our two WIAC matches this weekend," said Falcon Coach Patti Ford. "That tough competition prepared us for a match like today against Platteville. A couple of parts of our game today weren't strong, but it shows that we are a pretty good team when we can still win without every part of the game going well."
 
With the win the Falcons improve to 13-2 overall and 2-0 in WIAC play.  UWP falls to 10-5 and 1-2 in the WIAC.
 
This is the best start for the Falcons since the 2003 season when they started 18-2 and finished 35-6. And, this is the first time the Falcons are 2-0 in WIAC play since the 2003 season when they started 4-0 before losing a WIAC match.
 
Up next for the Falcons is the St. Norbert Tournament.  The Falcons will play at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 against host school St. Norbert, followed by WIAC foe UW-Eau Claire at 6 p.m.

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