Titans Take Pizza Hut Classic Title

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team won its 10th straight match to open the 2009 season and captured the nine-team Pizza Hut Classic on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 11-12) in Oshkosh.

The Titans swept Carroll University, 25-19, 25-16, 25-14 and Augustana College (Ill.), 25-20, 25-18, 25-20 on Friday and knocked off Millikin University (Ill.), 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 25-15 and the University of Chicago (Ill.), 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-17 on Saturday.

Jacque Ray (Sr. • Richland Center) led UW-Oshkosh (10-0) with 44 kills and 20 blocks. Andrea Smith (Jr. • Fond du Lac) added 48 digs and 42 kills, Aleisha Bagin (Fr. • West Bend) 39 kills, Katie Beining (Sr. • Brookfield) 35 digs, 26 kills, eight service aces and Larissa Krumplitsch (Fr. • Appleton) 20 kills and 10 blocks.

Christina Cahoon (Jr. • Watertown) scooped up 71 digs and Katelyn Vara (Sr. • New Berlin) totaled 162 assists, 28 digs and nine blocks.

After only hitting .116 in set one against Carroll University (5-4), UW-Oshkosh responded by blasting hitting percentages of .355 and .333 in sets two and three. Bagin led the Titans with eight kills and Smith provided seven kills and nine digs. Cahoon totaled 18 digs, Vara 26 assists and Beining six kills, six digs and three service aces.

In the nightcap against Augustana College (1-7), UW-Oshkosh hit .274 as a team led by the 13 kills of Bagin and Ray. Smith produced nine kills and 14 digs and Cahoon tallied 19 digs. Vara ran the offense with 41 assists and provided nine digs.

On Saturday, UW-Oshkosh faced Millikin University (4-3) and the University of Chicago (5-5), first place winners of the other two pools after Friday's results.

The Titans powered down 15 kills in the opening two sets to take a quick 2-0 lead in the match before only hitting .053 in their losing set against the Big Blue. UW-Oshkosh responded by hitting .367 in set four to take the match going away.

Ray and Smith each had 12 kills to lead the Titans offensively. Brittany Gruning (Fr. • East Troy) led the team with five blocks and added nine kills on 20 errorless attempts. Krumplitsch had eight kills and three blocks and Vara added 43 assists, eight digs and two service aces.

Brittney Cote (So. • Orland Park, Ill.) scooped up 17 digs, Cahoon 15 and Beining 14 to lead the defense.

In UW-Oshkosh's second win in four days over the University of Chicago, Vara had a season-high 52 assists and five blocks. Ray and Bagin led the team with 16 kills, with Ray adding eight blocks, including three solo stuffs. Smith's all-around game produced 14 kills, three service aces and 17 digs. Beining added nine kills and nine digs and Cahoon had 19 digs.

Named to the ten-person all-tournament team for UW-Oshkosh were Bagin, Smith and Vara, with Smith being awarded the most valuable player.