Titans End Play At UW-Eau Claire Fall Classic Unbeaten

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team upped its winning streak to six matches with a 3-2 victory over the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) and a 3-1 triumph over The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) at the UW-Eau Claire Fall Classic on Saturday (Oct. 18).

The Titans (24-3) defeated the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (17-9) in set scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 15-6. Set results in UW-Oshkosh's win over The College of St. Scholastica (12-11) were 30-28, 19-25, 25-11, 26-24.

UW-Oshkosh was the only team with a 4-0 record at the UW-Eau Claire Fall Classic. The Titans improved to 9-0 in four-set and 5-0 in five-set matches this year.

UW-Oshkosh's Katelyn Malcheski and Lexi Thiel were named to the eight-player all-tournament team. Malcheski led the Titans in kills during three of the four matches. Thiel registered three double-doubles and recorded 187 assists, including a career-high 61 against the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.) on Friday (Oct. 17).

Malcheski led UW-Oshkosh with 17 kills on .324 hitting against the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, which has played in the NCAA Division III tournament the past nine seasons.

Nerissa Vogt contributed 11 kills, while Haley Rickmeier added 10 kills on 18 swings. Thiel recorded 38 assists, 10 digs and six kills. Mandy Trautmann registered a team-high 27 digs.

UW-Oshkosh had an 8-5 edge in service aces, but the University of Northwestern-St. Paul held slight advantages in kills (63-62), hitting percentage (.208 to .204), assists (57-54), digs (76-71) and blocks (10-6).

Tied at 15 in the opening set, the University of Northwestern-St. Paul scored 10 of the last 15 points.

The Eagles carried over the momentum into Set 2, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. The Titans claimed their first lead of the set at 14-13. Leading 20-19, UW-Oshkosh tallied five of the last six points, including two kills apiece by Malcheski and Vogt before a service ace by Laura Trochinski on set point.

In Set 3, UW-Oshkosh trailed for just one point and went on a five-point run for a 16-10 lead.

Set 4 was tied 10 times and neither team led by more than three points. The Eagles broke the last tie of the set at 19 and built their only three-point advantage at 24-21. UW-Oshkosh fended off two set points before the set ended on a Titan attack error.

The Titans raced out to a 7-3 lead in the final set and never trailed. The Eagles pulled within 7-5, but UW-Oshkosh scored eight of the last nine points to win the match. UW-Oshkosh outhit the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, .316 to -.056 in the final set.

Faith Vander Galien led the University of Northwestern-St. Paul with 13 kills and a match-high five blocks. The Eagles' Lizzy Potratz had a match-best 25 digs.

Malcheski led the Titans again with a match-high 15 kills against The College of St. Scholastica.

Thiel had her third consecutive double-double and fourth in the last five matches with 43 assists and 13 digs. Trochinski recorded her sixth double-double of the year with 10 kills and 16 digs. Vogt added a match-high six blocks. Trautmann led the Titans with 24 digs, while Danielle Stoppenbach had a season-high 17.

UW-Oshkosh held advantages in kills (54-48), hitting percentage (.149 to .114), assists (50-45), service aces (6-2), digs (88-86) and blocks (10-9).

The College of St. Scholastica hit for a higher percentage in just one set, a .189 to -.050 advantage in its Set-2 win. The Titans came back to outhit the Saints, .306 to -.026, in Set 3.

Set 1 was tied 15 times, including eight times in the 20s. Facing its second set point at 28-27, UW-Oshkosh scored the last three points on two kills by Trochinski and one by Vogt on set point.

Tied at 10 in the second set, The College of St. Scholastica scored seven of the next eight points, including four on attack errors by UW-Oshkosh. The Titans pulled to within 20-19, but the Saints scored the last five points to even the match.

UW-Oshkosh responded with nine straight points to start the third set and led by at least six points the rest of the frame.

Set 4 featured 12 ties, including deadlocks at 22, 23 and 24. Trailing 24-23, UW-Oshkosh scored the last three points of the match on a service error, a ball-handling error and a service ace by Rachel Smith.

Kortney Morrin and Christaia Houser had 10 kills apiece for The College of St. Scholastica. The Saints' Danielle Benusa registered a match-high 34 digs.

UW-Oshkosh returns to conference play when it travels to UW-Platteville on Wednesday (Oct. 22).