Titans Oust Eagles, Spartans In Season Debut

Katelyn Malcheski recorded 31 kills to lead the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team to a pair of season-opening victories at the Edgewood College triangular on Tuesday (Sept. 1) in Madison.

The Titans (2-0) erased a two-set deficit to stun host Edgewood College, 3-2, in the season opener before downing the University of Dubuque (Iowa), 3-0.

Malcheski had a team-high 16 kills in a 22-25, 25-27, 25-21, 26-24, 15-10 win over the Eagles and 15 terminations in a 25-21, 25-11, 25-23 sweep of the Spartans.

Nerissa Vogt added 22 kills on .422 hitting for UW-Oshkosh. Lexi Thiel had 73 assists on the day, while Mandy Trautmann had a team-best 21 digs in both matches.

In the opener, Edgewood College trailed for just three points during the first two sets to open a 2-0 advantage. UW-Oshkosh held the lead for the entire third set and evened the match by fending off the Eagles after scoring five unanswered points for a 22-19 edge in Set 4.

UW-Oshkosh took control of the decisive fifth set with a four-point run for a 6-3 lead on Rachel Smith's third service ace of the match. In the final set, the Titans outhit the Eagles, .471 to .125, and registered 10 kills, including four by Vogt.

After committing 18 attack errors and hitting just .131 during the first three sets, UW-Oshkosh rebounded for 23 kills on .321 hitting over the last two frames.

Thiel had a double-double with 47 assists and 15 digs. UW-Oshkosh's Allison Rueger chipped in nine kills, while Brooke Brinkman contributed eight kills and a team-high three blocks.

Edgewood College held advantages in kills (64-56), digs (82-81), blocks (9-3) and service aces (7-4), while UW-Oshkosh outhit the Eagles, .193 to .169.

Emily Chaussee, Elizabeth Evans, Savannah Koester and Jordan Winkler paced Edgewood College with 14 kills each. Chaussee and Winkler added 18 and 12 digs, respectively. The Eagles' Rachel Tesch led all players with 24 digs.

Against the University of Dubuque, UW-Oshkosh used a five-point run to claim an 18-15 lead in the first set behind two service aces and one kill by Laura Trochinski and two kills by Malcheski. The Spartans cut their deficit to 23-21, but the Titans responded with kills by Brinkman and Rueger on the next two points.

UW-Oshkosh hit a sizzling .412 with 16 kills to take a lopsided Set 2. The University of Dubuque mustered just six kills on .065 hitting in the frame.

The Spartans raced out to a 9-5 lead in the third set, but the Titans responded with five straight points for an 18-15 advantage on two kills by Malcheski and two aces and one kill by Trochinski. UW-Oshkosh scored four unanswered points to go up 23-17 on Malcheski's last kill of the match. The University of Dubuque got within 23-21, but UW-Oshkosh completed the sweep with consecutive kills by Brinkman and Rueger.

Vogt contributed eight kills on 17 attempts to go along with a team-high three blocks.

The University of Dubuque's Klaudia Basierak had 13 kills and 12 digs.

UW-Oshkosh had significant advantages in kills (44-28), digs (60-48) and hitting percentage (.272 to .140).

UW-Oshkosh heads to St. Louis, Mo., for the ASICS Invitational hosted by Washington University on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 4-5). The Titans will play Webster University (Mo.) and Hanover College (Ind.) on Friday before taking on the University of Dallas (Texas) and ninth-ranked Washington University on Saturday.