Titans Record Sweep Of Pioneers
Renee Rush had a team-leading eight kills on 16 errorless attempts as the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team defeated UW-Platteville, 3-0, on Wednesday (Oct. 25) in Platteville.
UW-Oshkosh (18-14, 2-4 WIAC) swept the Pioneers in set scores of 25-18, 25-16, 25-17. The Titans, who extended their season-long winning streak to five matches, won their fourth straight contest over UW-Platteville.
With the victory UW-Oshkosh secured a berth into the six-team WIAC Championship that begins next Tuesday (Oct. 31). The Titans will be the league tournament's fifth or sixth seed.
The Titans hit .333 on Wednesday while limiting the Pioneers to a .097 rate. UW-Oshkosh produced a .450 hitting percentage during the opening set.
UW-Oshkosh also held slim advantages in digs (33-31), assists (26-25), blocks (6-1) and service aces (5-3). The Titans entered the match ranked second in the NCAA Division III with 237 blocks.
UW-Oshkosh received four kills each from Tina Elstner, Samantha Jaeke, Carly Lemke and Brianna Witter. Witter hit .571 on seven errorless attempts while Lemke hit .429 and Jaeke .364 on 11 error-free swings.
Jaeke and Rebecca Doughty dished out 12 and 10 assists, respectively, and Katie Hodges had a match-high nine digs. Shelby Coron and Lemke shared the team lead with two blocks.
UW-Platteville (14-14, 0-6 WIAC) scored the first two points of the match before the Titans answered with four points and maintained a lead for the rest of the first set. A Pioneer attack error allowed UW-Oshkosh a 3-2 advantage, and Coron followed with a service ace. The Titans increased their lead to 13-8 on back-to-back kills from Coron and Jaeke. The Pioneers cut their deficit to 15-12, but a kill by Lemke and a pair of blocks extended UW-Oshkosh's lead to 18-12. Five consecutive UW-Platteville errors gave the Titans a 23-14 advantage, and UW-Oshkosh tallied its last two points of the frame on kills by Rush.
UW-Oshkosh trailed for just one point in the second set as the Pioneers tallied five straight points for a 5-4 edge. The Titans responded with kills by Jaeke and Lemke for a 6-5 lead and never trailed for the remainder of the frame. Leading 15-12, UW-Oshkosh scored six of the next seven points for a 21-13 advantage following a service ace by Jaeke. The Titans then took a two-set lead after scoring their final two points of the session on Pioneer errors.
UW-Platteville held its last lead of the match at 13-12 in the third set. UW-Oshkosh reclaimed the lead at 14-13 following consecutive kills by Elstner and Witter that sparked a 13-4 scoring run to conclude the contest. Rush's final kill of the match extended the Titans' advantage to 21-14, and UW-Oshkosh reached match-point at 24-16 after a service ace from Doughty and a kill from Coron. The Titans then wrapped up their 10th 3-0 victory of the season three points later on a Pioneer attack error.
UW-Platteville's Allie Carter and Allison Jensen led all players with 17 assists and 10 kills, respectively. Madie Sailors paced the Pioneers with eight digs.
UW-Oshkosh hosts UW-Stout in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday (Oct. 28) in Kolf Sports Center.
Photo courtesy of Andrew McNeill, UW-Platteville Sports Information