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Women's Volleyball

Titans Fall To Top-Ranked Eagles In Final Four

Box Score

Juniata College (Pa.) ended UW-Oshkosh's postseason run for the second consecutive year as the Eagles defeated the Titans, 3-0, in a semifinal round match of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship held Friday (Nov. 20) in University Heights, Ohio.

Juniata College, which ousted UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinal round of last year's national event, posted winning set scores this time around of 25-23, 25-18, 26-24.

Friday's contest featured the top two teams in the country as Juniata College was ranked first in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and UW-Oshkosh second. It was the second contest in less than a month between the squads, with UW-Oshkosh winning the first meeting by a 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13) score on Oct. 31 in San Antonio, Texas.

Juniata College (36-3), which captured NCAA Division III titles in 2004 and 2006, advances to play Washington University (Mo,) for the national championship at 7 p.m. (EST) on Saturday (Nov. 21) in University Heights. The nine-time NCAA Division III champion Bears (33-4) qualified for their match with the Eagles by edging Hope College (Mich.) (34-4), 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 15-25, 27-25, 15-12), in Friday's other semifinal.

Juniata College overcame deficits of 11-7, 15-9 and 22-21 to win the first set. The Eagles opened the period with a 6-4 lead, but the Titans rattled off seven straight points to take an 11-7 advantage. UW-Oshkosh extended its lead to 15-9 before Juniata College rallied back to tie the score at 20. The set was tied at 21, 22 and 23 before the Eagles finished the stanza with back-to-back points.

In the second set, Juniata College broke a 3-3 tie by scoring six of the next seven points. The Eagles built leads of 14-8, 18-11 and 21-13 before the Titans marked four consecutive points to cut their deficit to 21-17. Juniata College then scored three straight points and four of the last five to end the set.

Juniata College pulled off another come-from-behind victory in the third set as bounced back from deficits of 10-5, 19-18 and 22-20. A 5-1 scoring run gave the Titans a 10-5 lead, but the Eagles countered with an 11-4 scoring spree to take a 16-14 advantage. UW-Oshkosh regained the lead at 17-16 and constructed a 22-20 advantage before Juniata College responded with four straight points. The Titans battled back to tie the score at 24, but the Eagles tallied two consecutive points to end the set and match.

UW-Oshkosh (39-3) hit .083 for the contest. The Titans were led by the eight kills of both Katie Beining (Sr. • Brookfield) and Jacque Ray (Sr. • Richland Center) and the seven of Andrea Smith (Jr. • Fond du Lac). All three players recorded respective dig totals as Smith totaled 11, Beining eight and Ray 5.

UW-Oshkosh also received 29 assists and five digs from Katelyn Vara (Sr. • New Berlin) and 26 digs and two service aces from Christina Cahoon (Jr. • Watertown).

Juniata College registered a hitting percentage of .186. The Eagles benefited from the 10 kills of both Kelsey Fuller and Amanda Schmidt and the nine of Drew Barnhart.

Also playing big parts in the victory for Juniata College were Megan Sollenberger and Steph Strauss. Sollenberger totaled 25 digs and six assists while Strauss compiled 33 assists, seven digs and four kills.

UW-Oshkosh, which suffered just its 23rd loss in 202 matches, concluded its 14th NCAA Division III postseason appearance as a third-place finisher. The Titans also placed second in the country in 1994 and fourth in both 1991 and 1996.