Box Score

The UW-Parkside volleyball team won its second straight match and improved to 1-0 in league play with a straight sets victory over Kentucky Wesleyan College on Friday night. The Rangers recorded a 25-20, 25-22, 28-26 win to claim their GLVC opener. They are now 2-4 overall while the Panthers fell to 3-4 and 0-1 in the conference.

Addie Kramer led the offensive attack with 17 kills on just 27 swings. Her three errors gave her a .519 hitting percentage on the evening. Stacie Bower keyed the defense with 22 digs.

"Addie's been clutch, said head coach Christine Paciero. "She has so much control. She has clearly been our best offensive player (so far). But our other players have been doing a good job giving her some space and helping her get good swings."

Kramer helped get the Rangers off to a strong start and build an early five-point lead in game one. KWC trimmed it to one before a 6-1 run to stretch things out. Two kills by Kramer and two aces by Bridget Nickel helped widen the lead resulting in the game one win.

Game two featured 11 ties but again the Rangers made some plays late to prevail. Kramer slammed home points 23 and 24 before an Adrienne Uthe-led block finished off the set at 25-22.

Game three proved to be the biggest challenge of the night as both teams had late opportunities to seize the set. Twelve ties and six lead changes highlighted the stanza as each team had a set point turned away. Back-to-back kills by Nickel turned a 25-24 deficit into a 26-25 lead. After KWC tied it, Kramer got her team-high 17th kill to reclaim the lead before a misplayed ball by the Panthers sealed the deal.

Lost a bit in the late back-and forth was the improved defensive play of the Rangers ... specifically in the waning moments of sets.

"It's inspiring, and we need inspiration defensively," said Pacerio of Bower's night in the back row. "I thought our defense was the best at the end of games when we needed it."

"Hopefully we're in those dogfights with the better teams in the conference and we need to be in order to move ourselves into a position to be in the conference tournament," continued Paciero. "Hopefully that is just the beginning of future defensive efforts. Stacie (with) 22 digs ... that's fantastic."

The Rangers will continue their homestand on Saturday when the University of Southern Indiana comes to town. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.