Titans Pull Out Five-Set Win Over Falcons

Tina Elstner recorded a career-high 26 kills and Samantha Jaeke finished one kill shy of a triple-double as the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team pulled out a thrilling 3-2 victory over UW-River Falls on Friday (Oct. 13) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (12-13, 1-4 WIAC) defeated the Falcons in set scores of 25-9, 22-25, 25-15, 26-28, 15-12. The Titans have won their last seven meetings with UW-River Falls.

Clinging to a 13-12 advantage in the fifth set, the Titans closed out the match with a kill from Elstner and a solo block from Carly Lemke. Elstner, who eclipsed her previous career high of 21 kills, added 14 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.

Jaeke collected nine kills, 19 assists and 10 digs, marking her eighth double-double of the year.

UW-Oshkosh's Renee Rush set a new career high with 13 kills while Rebecca Doughty led all players with a career-high 26 assists and Rachel Gardner had a team-leading 25 digs and a career-best four service aces.

Lemke chipped in five kills, five blocks and a career-best three service aces for the Titans, who also received 11 digs and three service aces from Katie Hodges.

UW-Oshkosh concluded the contest with advantages in kills (59-41), hitting percentage (.222 to .120), assists (52-40), service aces (13-8) and digs (73-54) while UW-River Falls had a 9-7 edge in blocks.

Karli Nielsen and Dakotah Poitra led UW-River Falls with 11 kills apiece. Mallory Griffin and Hailey Huseth recorded 19 and 17 assists, respectively, while co-directing the Falcon offense, and Hannah Robb had a match-best 26 digs and four service aces.

UW-Oshkosh scored the first five points of the match and never trailed en route to a comfortable win in the opening set. The Titans had 12 kills on .524 hitting to go along with five service aces and a pair of blocks during the first frame. UW-River Falls cut its deficit to 8-6, but UW-Oshkosh answered with 17 of the last 20 points, including three consecutive service aces by Lemke and four kills from Elstner.

UW-River Falls (15-11, 0-5 WIAC) held a 13-12 lead in the second set before three kills from Elstner and a service ace from Gardner gave the Titans a 16-13 advantage. Trailing 22-18, the Falcons finished the frame with seven straight points, including three on service aces.

The third set was tied for the ninth and final time at 13, but UW-Oshkosh ended the frame with a 13-2 scoring run, including 11 straight points on Gardner's serve. After UW-River Falls took a 13-12 lead with a kill, Elstner knotted the score at 13 with a kill and back-to-back attack errors gave the Titans a 15-13 advantage. UW-Oshkosh's string of 11 consecutive points then continued with kills from Elstner and Lemke, a pair of combination blocks, two service aces from Gardner, and a pair Falcon errors for a 23-13 lead. Lemke concluded the set with a kill four points later.

The Falcons claimed a 13-12 lead in the fourth set, but a kill from Elstner sparked a run of five consecutive points by UW-Oshkosh. Two straight UW-River Falls attack errors were followed by two more Elstner kills for a 17-13 Titan lead. However, the Falcons benefitted from five UW-Oshkosh errors on the way to knotting the score at 20. The set was tied for the 14th time at 26, when UW-River Falls registered a kill and the Titans committed an attack error on the final two points.

UW-Oshkosh took the lead for good in the fifth and final set at 4-3 on a kill by Jaeke. Lemke followed with a kill, and Elstner added a pair of kills as the Titans extended their lead to 7-3. Kills pulled the Falcons within 12-10 and 13-12, prompting a timeout by UW-Oshkosh before Elstner collected her final kill and Lemke produced her lone solo block of the match on the two ensuing points.

The Titans travel to Naperville, Ill., on Saturday (Oct. 14) for matches against Bethel (Minn.) and Nebraska Wesleyan universities.