Box Score
Wisconsin-Whitewater 3, Ohio Wesleyan 0

Sophomore outside hitter Mason Campbell (Columbus/Pickerington Central) recorded a kill to give Ohio Wesleyan a 26-25 lead in the first set, but sixth-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater rallied for a win in the set, then went on to complete a sweep of the Battling Bishops in a first-round match of the NCAA Division III tournament on Thursday in Whitewater, Wis.

The Warhawks won the match by scores of 28-26, 25-14, 25-15.  Wisconsin-Whitewater advances to the second round to play Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a 3-0 winner over Northwestern (St. Paul) in the third of Thursday's 4 first-round contests.

Ohio Wesleyan took a 9-8 lead in the first set on a block by junior setter Lily Bechina (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) and senior middle blocker Ava Kutilek (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) only to see Wisconsin-Whitewater score the next 4 points, getting a kill and 2 blocks from Hannah Proctor and a kill and a block from Jenna Weinfurt.  That 12-9 lead by the Warhawks would be the biggest lead of the set.  The Bishops came back to even the score at 15 on a block by senior middle blocker Claire Solberg (Huron).  With the score tied at 23, an Abbie Dix kill put Wisconsin-Whitewater at set point, but a service error evened the score, and Solberg followed with a block to give Ohio Wesleyan a 25-24 lead.  The Warhawks got a kill from Alayna Jansky to keep the set alive, and that pattern repeated itself when Campbell's kill moved the Bishops to set point only to see Jansky respond with a kill to tie the set.  Jansky recorded another kill for a 27-26 UW-W lead, and Proctor followed with a kill to give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead.

The Bishops led, 3-1, in the second set after a block by Solberg and senior right-side hitter Grace Cummings (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne), but the Warhawks scored the next 7 points, with Dix recording 3 consecutive kills and adding a solo block later in the run.  Ohio Wesleyan closed to within 11-9 as Solberg had a pair of kills, but Wisconsin-Whitewater got a pair of aces from Jansky to stretch the margin to 17-10 and went on to close out the set.

The third set unfolded in similar fashion.  Ohio Wesleyan pulled to within 10-8 after a Campbell kill but Wisconsin-Whitewater scored the next 4 points, getting 2 kills from Chloe Werner and ace from Emma Bludgen.  Another 4-0 spurt, this time aided by a kill and a block from Dix, put the Warhawks ahead by a 19-10 count, and Dix, Proctor, and Werner each had a kill and a block down the stretch as Wisconsin-Whitewater finished off the set and the match.

Solberg led the Bishops with 8 kills and 4 blocks.  Bechina recorded 29 assists.  Cummings added 3 blocks, and sophomore libero Avery Krause (Cleveland/Holy Name) finished with 24 digs.

Box Score