Adrian Northrup

In a tension-filled WIAC volleyball tournament championship match Saturday night at McPhee Center, UW-Whitewater beat the Blugolds for the second time this season.

The Warhawks now account for two of UW-Eau Claire’s three losses on the season.

Although the ‘Golds battled hard after dropping the first two games, they lost their second consecutive WIAC tournament championship match 3-1.

“We just started out tight so we didn’t get into the full game soon enough,” coach Lisa Herb said. “And then when we did, we were coming back and (playing) in the moment a lot more.”

In the first game, UW-Eau Claire got out to an early 22-13 lead, but couldn’t hold off a Warhawk comeback, losing a nail-biter 31-29.

“The first game was tough. We were up, and
we let it slip away,” senior Jodi Dunbar said. “I think if we would have won that game it would have been a totally different outlook.”

Dunbar led the Blugolds in kills, finishing with 14.

Game two was the opposite, with Whitewater getting an early lead and Eau Claire fighting from behind, but the Blugolds couldn’t overcome the deficit, and lost 30-24.

In the third game, the Blugolds completely dominated Whitewater 30-9.

Senior Carly Freiborg said the Blugolds were on the attack more in game three.

“We knew we had to get our block going,” said Freiborg, who led the Blugolds with 41 assists. “We were really picking up on offense and getting our defense going.”

Eau Claire couldn’t win a back-and-forth game four and lost 30-28.

Although they were disappointed to lose to Whitewater for the second time this season, the players and coaches remained positive and said they were looking forward to earning an at-large bid to the NCAA regional tournament.

Herb said she expects the Blugolds to get a good seed in the tournament, and said they will likely play in a regional filled with WIAC schools, including Whitewater.

“We need to come in and keep our composure and compete,” she said. “And hopefully we’ll be the ones to come out on top.”

Dunbar and Freiborg said they feel good about the possibility of playing Whitewater again in the tournament.

“We know what they do now,” Freiborg said. “We’re used to playing (Whitewater) … we’ll be ready for them.”

The regional tournament is set to begin Thursday and wrap up Saturday. The winner of the eight-team regional advances to the NCAA Elite Eight in Salem, Va. Nov. 16 through 18.

“Revenge is going to be sweet,” Dunbar said. “It’s our turn. They beat us last year to go to Salem. We’ve got a good bunch of girls and we all have the same outlook.”