Titans End Regular Season With A Pair Of Victories
UW-Oshkosh completed both its regular season and a three-match trip to the East Coast with a pair of women's volleyball victories on Saturday (Nov. 2) in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The Titans rallied to defeat the University of Massachusetts-Boston, 3-2, before ousting host Vassar College, 3-1. UW-Oshkosh began its East Coast journey with Friday's (Nov. 1) sweep of host Eastern Connecticut State University.
Against the University of Massachusetts-Boston (17-15), UW-Oshkosh won the match in set scores of 26-28, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 and 15-13.
In the first set, UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 14-7 lead before the University of Massachusetts-Boston battled back to tie the score at 24. Down 25-24, the Beacons scored four of the next five points to take the set.
The teams exchanged points during the early stages of the second set. Following a 9-9 tie, UW-Oshkosh scored four straight points and then seven of the next 10 to take a 20-12 lead.
The University of Massachusetts-Boston rallied from deficits of 18-13 and 23-18 to win the third set. The Beacons ended the set with seven unanswered points.
Following another 9-9 tie in the fourth set, UW-Oshkosh counted nine of the next 12 points to take an 18-13 lead. The Beacons pulled to within 21-19, before the Titans tallied four of the next five points.
The fifth set was tight before the Beacons scored four straight points to take an 11-7 lead. UW-Oshkosh stormed back to take a 13-12 lead before giving up the next point. The Titans then took the set and the match on consecutive kills by Jordyn Bratel.
Both teams had three players with double-digit kills, including Bratel with 15, Katelyn Malcheski with 14 and Nerissa Vogt with 12 for the Titans. Corrine Porter had 13 kills and both Julia Murphy and Bri Sousa 10 each for the Beacons.
UW-Oshkosh, which hit .128 for the match, also received 28 assists and 11 digs from Alison Tomczyk, 18 assists and 10 digs from Morgan Cizauskas and 33 digs from Mandy Trautmann.
The University of Massachusetts-Boston also obtained 34 assists and six kills from Megan Pollock, 19 digs from Porter and 31 digs from Elizabeth Glavan. The Beacons, who advanced to the quarterfinal round of last year's NCAA Division III Championship, hit .124 for the contest.
Against Vassar College (18-16) in the nightcap, UW-Oshkosh followed a 25-16 loss in the first set with consecutive wins of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-16.
Vassar College had little trouble winning the first set as it built leads of 7-1 and 19-9. The Titans climbed to within 22-16 before watching the Brewers score the final three points.
UW-Oshkosh counted five straight points to take a 6-1 lead in the second set. The Titans upped their advantage to 16-7 and then 21-9 before marking the victory.
The third set was tied eight times before UW-Oshkosh scored three straight points to take a 14-11 lead. The Brewers got within 15-14, but the Titans answered with two straight points to end the threat. UW-Oshkosh ended the set with five straight points.
UW-Oshkosh never trailed in the fourth set as it tallied the first three points. The Titans jumped to a 14-7 advantage and led by four-plus points the rest of the way.
UW-Oshkosh hit .191 as Malcheski totaled 12 kills and Vogt 10. The Titans also acquired 19 assists from Cizauskas, 16 assists from Tomczyk, 15 digs from Trautmann and 14 digs from both Jessica Fischer and Danielle Stoppenbach.
Gabby Miller and Taylor Mosley led Vassar College with nine kills each. The Brewers also received 28 assists and seven digs from Rose Carman, 18 digs from Chloe Hallum and 12 digs from Sierra Tobin. Vassar College hit .069 for the match.
UW-Oshkosh (22-10) travels to UW-La Crosse (14-13) on Tuesday (Nov. 5) for a first round contest in the WIAC Championship.