The UW-River Falls volleyball team lost to the UW-Stevens Point Pointers, the eighth ranked team in Div. III, in straight sets on Friday, Oct. 31, in Stevens Point, Wis.

UWRF entered the contest in third place in the WIAC. A WIAC playoff birth is still likely but not guaranteed. WIAC action ends tomorrow evening. The Falcons were competitive early, holding a 20-17 lead in the first set, but eventually were outplayed by the best team in the WIAC.

Stevens Point won the first set 25-23 after winning eight of the last 11 points. The Pointers started the first set with four consecutive points but the Falcons answered, winning five out the next six points to tie the set at five. Sophomore Tayler Fertig had two early kills for UWRF during that stretch. Falcons sophomore Michaela Piechowski had an early ace as UWRF and Stevens Point were locked at eight in the early going. Fertig had two more kills to knot the set at 13, adding to her first set totals. After trailing 12-10, the Falcons won five out of the next seven points to take a brief 15-14 lead. Falcons junior Rebecca Gasper started to find her groove with three kills in the middle of the set. The Falcons were playing strong early the match, killing 13 of the team's first 28 attacks in route to a 20-17 lead. The Pointers won five straight points to take a 23-21 lead. Junior Lexi Pingle tied the set at 23 with a huge ace. Pointers junior captain Emma Brunkhorst had a monster set with eight kills. Fertig led the Falcons with four first set kills.

The Pointers took the second set 25-15. After a 5-5 tie, the Pointers won three consecutive points to take an early 8-5 lead. Stevens Point dominated the early portion of the second set, winning seven of eight points in route to a 12-6 lead. After killing 13 of its first 28 attacks, the Falcons registered only three kills on its next 46 attack attempts. Falcons junior Brianna Muetzel had three kills midway through the set. Sophomore Raven Klein's ace brought UWRF within five points at 14-9. The Falcons won four of six points to bring the score to 16-11, in favor of Stevens Point. Despite three kills in a row from Fertig, the Pointers pushed its lead to 23-13. After two sets, Fertig led UWRF with eight kills, while Muetzel and Gasper contributed five each. Pingle led the way with 13 digs through two sets. UWRF only had two blocks through two sets.

Stevens Point dominated the third set, winning 25-10. The Pointers opened the third set with eight consecutive points. The lone kill by the Falcons in the first 17 points came from Muetzel. The majority of UWRF's points (six of its first seven) came from Stevens Point errors. 

Fertig led the Falcons with nine kills. Pingle led with 15 digs, while Muetzel added 13 digs and seven kills. Klein finished with 25 assists. The Pointers' Brunkhorst finished with 16 kills. Senior captain Alexis Hartman led the way with 35 assists. Freshman Tiffany Stargardt finished with 15 digs.

UWRF drops to 12-18 overall, 4-4 in the WIAC, 1-7 on road, while snapping its short-lived one-game winning streak. Stevens Point improves to 26-4 overall, 6-1 in the WIAC, 6-0 at home, while extending its winning streak to 14 games. The Pointers remain in first place in the WIAC. Stevens Point's last loss was at UW-Oshosh on Sept. 24. UWRF still leads the all-time series against the Pointers 32-24.

The first round of the WIAC Tournament begins on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Match times and opponents are currently to be announced.

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