RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The Falcons ended a 17-match losing streak in WIAC competition by defeating UW-Platteville in five sets on Friday night. A key 8-1 run in the final set proved to be enough to get past the Pioneers 15-10 in the fifth set. Karli Nielsen had 14 kills and eight blocks in the match to help the Falcons pull out a close win on the road in their final WIAC matchup of 2018.

UW-River Falls started the game up 4-3, but two kills from CJ Johnson put the Pioneers up 7-4. The Falcons responded by going up 10-9 after five errors from UW-Plattevile and a service ace from Ali Lokker. The teams stayed within two points of each other until the Pioneers went up 22-19 after an attack error from Hannah Striggow. A kill and service ace from Hannah Robb brought the set within one point, but two Johnson kills gave the Pioneers the first set at 25-23. UW-Platteville had a .250 hitting percentage in the set after executing 14 kills and only five errors. 

A block from Nielsen and Abby Peterson once again gave UWRF a 4-3 advantage to start the set before the Pioneers went on a 6-0 run. Kills from Dakotah Poitra and Nielsen helped the Falcons get back into the game, and Mallory Griffin later served up two aces to make it a one-point set at 15-16. The Falcons first took the lead at 19-18 after a kill from Robb. Five kills from four different Falcons set up set point at 25-24, and Griffin subbed in to serve up another ace to take the set at 26-24. Griffin also leads the WIAC with 57 service aces.

A kill from Savannah Brauer kept the score tied at 8-8 in the third set before two kills and a block from Johnson put the Pioneers up 13-8. A block from Sara Kelly later moved the Falcons ahead 16-15, and Robb's second service ace of the night put them up 19-16. A block and two kills from Nielsen helped put UWRF ahead two sets to one after a 25-19 third set. However, the Pioneers wouldn't be closed out easily on their senior night and fought back to win the fourth set. A sloppy set from the Falcons that included only six kills and eight errors was radically different from the 14 kills and six errors the Pioneers had. After leading 4-2, UW-Platteville used a 10-1 run to go ahead 14-3. Two kills from Paige Mertens and a variety of errors from UWRF helped the run grow, and the Pioneers cruised to a 25-14 fourth set.

The Falcons went ahead 3-0 in the final set from a Poitra ace and Striggow kill, but the Pioneers quickly battled back to make it 3-3 after three errors from UWRF. The Falcons took seven of the next eight points to go up 11-4, highlighted by Robb's third ace and kills from Striggow, Brauer and Lokker. Brauer was able to close out the match with a kill to move the Falcons to 1-6 in the WIAC this season.

Nielsen and Brauer combined for 24 kills, and the Falcons had an 11-7 advantage in blocks on Friday. Johnson had a game-high 16 kills for the Pioneers, while Ali Jaber led in digs with 22. Poitra led UWRF with 21 digs, and Griffin and Hailey Huseth each had 18 assists. Robb added 16 digs to move to 665 digs on the season, the second consecutive season she's broken the school record. She first eclipsed her record of 645 on Wednesday against Stevens Point.

The Falcons now stand at 14-19 and will close out their season against MSOE and Maranatha Baptist on Saturday.