STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Down but never out. The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team showed plenty of fight on Wednesday night, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to take down Wisconsin-Stevens Point in five sets inside Berg Gym. The Falcons claimed the non-conference thriller, 25-15, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10, to improve to 5-3 on the season.
The victory marked the first for the Falcons at Wisconsin-Stevens Point since 2018.
The Falcons came out flying in the opening set. With CUW holding a 10-8 advantage, the Falcons rattled off six consecutive points behind the serve of freshman Natalie Nickolai (Sheboygan Falls, Wis.). Sophomore Kaylee Hlinak (Mishicot, Wis.) hammered home back-to-back kills during the run before freshman Brianna Stewart (De Pere, Wis.) added another kill to stretch the CUW advantage to 16-8.
Concordia Wisconsin kept its foot on the gas. Sophomore Kirsten Krause (Pocatello, Idaho) connected on a pair of kills around a kill from senior Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) as the Falcons pushed the lead to 22-11. CUW never allowed the Pointers back into the set and closed out the dominant opening frame, 25-15.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point responded in the second set. The two teams battled back and forth before the Pointers were able to create some separation down the stretch and even the match with a 25-21 victory.
The Pointers carried that momentum into the third set and jumped out to a 12-3 advantage. The Falcons refused to go quietly and chipped away at the deficit. Hlinak helped fuel the comeback with consecutive kills late in the frame, but the early hole proved to be too much to overcome as UWSP held on for another 25-21 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
With their backs against the wall, the Falcons flipped the script.
CUW broke open a 5-5 tie in the fourth set with five consecutive points behind the serve of Dickmann. Sophomore Lauren Kellner (Sobieski, Wis.), Nickolai and Krause all recorded kills during the run to give the Falcons a 10-5 advantage.
The Falcons continued to find answers at the net. Nickolai and freshman Bailey Bonde (Seymour, Ind.) teamed up for a block to make it 14-10 before kills from Hlinak, Dickmann, Bonde and Krause helped CUW build an 18-14 advantage. Concordia Wisconsin hit a match-best .389 in the fourth set with 17 kills and only three attacking errors.
Hlinak put the finishing touches on the frame with a pair of late kills, including the set-winning swing, as the Falcons forced a fifth set with a 25-19 victory.
CUW wasted no time jumping ahead in the deciding set. Kellner and Nickolai combined for a block on the opening point, and Nickolai followed with a kill to help the Falcons soar out to a 3-0 advantage.
The Pointers answered with five consecutive points to grab a 5-3 lead, but the Falcons had one more comeback left in them.
Nickolai stopped the run with a kill before teaming with Bonde for a block to tie the set at 5-5. Bonde then took over with back-to-back kills to put Concordia Wisconsin ahead for good at 7-5.
The Falcons continued to pull away. Nickolai made it 8-6 with a kill before Bonde struck again for a 10-7 advantage. Freshman Makenna Thompson (McCordsville, Ind.) followed with a service ace, and Bonde and Dickmann teamed up for a block to stretch the lead to 12-7.
Krause pushed CUW within two points of victory with a kill at 13-9 before Dickmann hammered home another to bring up match point.
After one final UWSP point, Kellner slammed the door with the match-winning kill for the 15-10 victory.
Hlinak powered the CUW attack with a match-high 18 kills while hitting .342. Krause was right behind with 17 kills, while Nickolai finished with eight kills, 10 digs and eight block assists.
Dickmann directed the offense with 47 assists while adding eight kills on a blistering .615 hitting percentage and nine digs. Bonde was a force at the net with five kills on a .385 hitting percentage, one solo block and four block assists.
Freshman Emy Miller (West Bend, Wis.) anchored the back row with a match-high 22 digs while adding six assists and a service ace.
The Falcons finished the night with 63 kills and a .251 hitting percentage while holding Wisconsin-Stevens Point to a .169 clip.
Concordia Wisconsin returns to the friendly confines of the R. John Buuck Field House on Saturday when the Falcons host Luther and Elmhurst.
