Soccer (12-1 overall, 8-0 WIAC): UW-SP clinched its fifth straight WIAC title and ninth crown in 10 years with a pair of conference victories last week. The Pointers opened the week by beating previous conference unbeaten UW-Oshkosh 4-0 and then downing UW-Platteville 6-0.
The Pointers defeated UW-Stout, 4-1, on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
UW-SP was scheduled to host St. Norbert on Thursday, Oct. 18, and Macalester on Sunday, Oct. 21, in non-conference matches.
Thursday's match will be broadcast live on WWSP 89.9 FM, which will also be available through a link on the athletics Web site. Macalester comes to town Sunday ranked 24th in Division III, while UW-Stevens Point is ranked 10th overall.
Cross Country: Becky Lebak (Burlington) placed fourth overall to lead the Pointer women's team to a fifth place finish among 30 teams at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Invitational, while the Pointer men's team used a balanced effort to place seventh out of 33 teams.
Lebak posted a time of 18:34 to finish fourth among 309 runners. James Levash (Brillion) was the top finisher for the men's team, taking 36th, in a time of 26:06.
Both the men and women were ranked ninth in last week's Division III poll and will compete in their only home meet of the season Friday, Oct. 19, (women at 4:20 p.m., men at 4:50 p.m.) when they host UW-Oshkosh in a dual meet at Iverson Park. UW-Oshkosh's men are ranked second and the women are ranked fourth. The race will be the final tune-up for the WIAC championships, which are the following weekend in Eau Claire.
Football (4-1 overall, 2-1 WIAC): An impressive defensive performance put the Pointers back into a tie for first place in the WIAC with a 12-7 victory over UW-River Falls, which was previously the only undefeated team in the conference.
UW-SP limited the Falcons' wishbone attack to 143 yards rushing, which was 154 yards below their per-game average. The Pointers did not allow UW-River Falls to cross midfield in the second half and surrendered just 61 total yards in the half.
The Pointers trailed 7-0 at halftime and received second half field goals from Ricardo Vega (Palm Springs, Calif.) of 41 and 30 yards. UW-SP scored its only touchdown with 10 minutes remaining when quarterback Scott Krause (Waunakee) scrambled for a 31-yard touchdown run.
Nick Haffele (Monroe) led the Pointer defense with 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops.
UW-SP is tied with UW-Eau Claire, UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls atop the WIAC standings. The Pointers will play at UW-Oshkosh Saturday, Oct. 20, at 1 p.m.
Swimming: The Pointer swim teams open their seasons Saturday, Oct. 20, with stiff competition, facing a pair of Division II schools in South Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha. The triangular will take place Saturday in Vermillion, S.D.
UW-SP is the two-time defending WIAC men's and women's champion. The Pointer men were sixth at the Division III championships last year, while the women placed eighth.
Tennis (4-6 overall, 1-5 WIAC): The Pointers lost a pair of WIAC matches last week to conclude their regular season at 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the conference. UW-SP lost to UW-Oshkosh 7-2 and UW-Eau Claire 9-0 last week.
UW-SP now focuses its attention on the WIAC championship tournament Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 20-21, at the Nielsen Center in Madison. The tournament begins at noon on Saturday and continues at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
Freshman Jana Braam (Shawano) was the lone winner for the Pointers last week against UW-Oshkosh, capturing her No. 4 singles match and also teaming with Kim Goron (Green Bay) for a victory at No. 3 doubles.
Volleyball (6-14 overall, 1-5 WIAC): The Pointers used a pair of big rallies to win a non-conference match on Friday, Oct. 12, at Northland. UW-SP trailed 12-0 in the third game and 8-0 in the fourth game, but won the match 30-21, 14-30, 30-25, 30-16. Mary Schultz (Fish Creek) had nine kills in the victory, while Jessica Parker (Milwaukee) added eight kills.
The Pointers lost a tough match in five games on Thursday, Oct. 11, to Marian 23-30, 30-23, 30-26, 28-30, 15-12. Reisha Lenz (Tomah) had kills in each of her first eight attempts and finished with 15 kills for the match to lead the Pointers. Schultz also had 10 kills and five aces in the loss.
UW-SP dropped two matches on Saturday, Oct. 13, in Superior, falling to UW-Superior 30-25, 30-27, 31-29 and to Concordia-St. Paul 30-15, 30-8, 30-20.
The Pointers have a key conference match Wednesday, Oct. 17, at UW-Platteville. UW-SP could improve its seeding for the upcoming WIAC tournament, since UW-Platteville is 0-5 in the WIAC, despite being ranked 26th in the latest Division III rankings.