The volleyball team is now about halfway through conference play. It went 1-2 this weekend in three road games, the team’s overall conference record is now 2-3.

The team lost to UW-Stout on Wednesday. This was the Blugolds’ fifth straight loss to Stout, and seventh of their last eight. The last time the Blugolds beat Stout was in 1998.

The final scoring was 30-26, 25-30, 30-28, and 30-24. Senior Rachel Gullerud finished with 22 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Brooke Wozniak tallied 11 kills and nine blocks. Freshman Missy Malvitz had six service aces.

On Friday, the Blugolds took on UW-Whitewater, ranked second in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Eau Claire was swept in the matchup 3-0. The final scoring was 30-28, 30-21, and 30-17. Whitewater hit .301 for the match compared to the Blugolds .101. Eau Claire also had 26 hitting errors.

“We came out strong,” senior Missy Gehring said. “(But) we didn’t play to our potential.”

Gullerud and Wozniak had nine kills each for the match. Sophomore Julie Bobbe finished with 12 digs while junior Andrea Hemple hit .500 with 30 assists, the team’s only two service aces, and nine digs.

On Saturday, Eau Claire beat UW-Stevens Point 26-30, 30-18, 30-24 and 30-28. In the second game, the Blugolds overcame a 23-18 deficit with 10 straight points.

“It was nice to get a conference win,” Gehring said. “It’s a confidence builder.”

They hit .230 for the match, and were led by Gullerud with 17 kills, and 15 digs. Sophomore Annie Kabat added 16 kills and Wozniak had 12 kills. Hemple added 12 digs, 57 assists and five service aces. The Blugolds had 14 ace serves and eight blocks in total.

Senior Roxy Wolf has been dealing with an assortment of injuries including a herniated disk in her back and a hurt knee.

“(Wolf is) not 100 percent,” coach Lisa Herb said. “She’s about 50 to 75 percent.”

Wolf finished with 12 kills against Stevens Point.

“She did much better against Point,” Herb said.

The team plays UW-Superior at McPhee on Wednesday.

“It’s nice the games are at home,” Gehring said. “The fans, and the home court give us a little bit of an advantage.”

The team thinks it should be a close game.

“Whoever makes the fewest mistakes will win,” Gehring said.

There are a few things the players need to work on before that match.

“We haven’t had that competitive edge,” Herb said. “We need to be more consistent.”

Herb said she thinks the team has a pretty good chance during tits last three conference games.

“The upcoming haven’t had as much success,” Herb said. “Five and three is realistic if we’re healthy.”

There are two new rules changes this year. One is for every rally, a point is scored. Last season, only the team serving could score.

The other says that serves touching the top of the net will be played.

Last season, the other team was given possession of the ball when the serve touched the net.

“(The new rules) change the pace, the momentum of the match,” Gehring said. “It takes a team out of it quicker. But it hasn’t changed anything with the standings yet.”