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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Caldwell Box Score

Gannon Box Score

ERIE, Pa. (Aug. 31, 2012)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball squad opened up its 2012 campaign on Friday by breezing to a pair of 3-0 victories at the Gannon University Tournament. The Rangers took down Caldwell College (N.J.), 25-16, 25-17, 25-16, before capping off the day by toppling the host Golden Knights, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19.

In the opener against the Cougars (0-1), UWP trailed 10-9 in the opening set before tallying 15 of the next 19 points to grab a commanding 24-15 lead while in the second set the Rangers (2-0) surged to a 12-3 lead and never looked back. The third and final set was blown open by a 8-1 UW-Parkside run, turning a two-point 13-11 edge into a nine-point buffer en route to the 25-16 victory.

Bridget Nickel paced the Rangers attack with 12 kills while Tricia Tirabassi notched 20 assists. Sarah Mlachnik recorded a team-high nine digs while Makenzie Fahnestock tallied eight.

Against Gannon (1-1), UW-Parkside was against the ropes, trailing 22-19 in the opening set before rattling off six straight points coming off a timeout to pull out the victory. Five of the six points came off the serve of Nickel, including a service ace.

Set number two ended 25-18 in favor of the visiting Rangers before closing out set three on a 12-6 spurt, breaking open a 13-13 affair and giving UW-Parkside its second 3-0 sweep of the tournament.

20 of the Ranger's 44 digs came courtesy of Mlachnik while Nickel once again led UWP on the attack with 10 kills. Tirabassi and Ryann Arundel tallied 19 and 17 assists, respectively.

The Rangers close out the Gannon University Tournament on Saturday at noon, taking on Ohio Dominican University.