Titans Sweep Falcons For Fourth Straight Win
Tina Elstner had a match-high 11 kills with seven digs and four blocks to lead the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team to a 3-0 victory at Concordia University Wisconsin on Friday (Oct. 19) in Mequon.
UW-Oshkosh (14-12) swept the Falcons in set scores of 25-21, 25-17, 25-23 to begin play at the two-day Concordia University Wisconsin Invitational. The Titans, who have won 11 consecutive sets since Oct. 12, extended their season-best winning streak to four matches.
Concordia University Wisconsin (15-7), which had lost just one set at home this season entering Friday, saw its 13-match home winning streak come to an end.
The Titans now sport a 14-1 record against the Falcons in a series that began in 1997. UW-Oshkosh, which has lost a mere eight sets to Concordia University Wisconsin, also defeated the Falcons in straight sets in 2016 and 2017. The Falcons' lone win over the Titans was a 3-2 decision in 2015.
Concordia University Wisconsin, which went into Friday's contest ranked seventh in the NCAA Division III Midwest Region, has appeared in the last two national tournaments. UW-Oshkosh has reached the NCAA postseason twice in the past four seasons and 17 times overall since 1990.
Elstner led all players Friday with 15 points as she hit .250 on 28 attempts and notched on of the Titans' five service aces. Elstner, who recorded double-digit kills for the fourth time this season, is averaging 3.6 kills per set over her last three matches.
Taylor Allen added six kills and four blocks for the Titans, who also received five terminations and a match-leading six blocks from Carly Lemke.
Rachel Gardner paced UW-Oshkosh with 10 digs. Rebecca Doughty and Emma Kiekhofer registered 15 and 10 assists, respectively, while splitting setting duties for the Titans.
Concordia University Wisconsin concluded the match with a 36-30 advantage in kills and a 45-40 edge in digs. However, the Falcons committed 28 attack errors, including 14 on Titan blocks, to go along with seven service errors. The Falcons, who went into the match with a .202 hitting percentage, was held below a .135 attack rate for the first time this year.
UW-Oshkosh held advantages in hitting percentage (.153 to .071), service aces (5-4) and blocks (14-4). The Titans, who have produced at least 12 blocks in three of their last four matches, outhit the Falcons .172 to .000 in the second set and .167 to .087 in the third frame.
The Falcons jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the opening set, but the Titans roared back to claim an 18-15 advantage following a string of seven consecutive points. Trailing 15-11, UW-Oshkosh began its decisive run on a kill by Lemke. A Falcon ballhandling error preceded a kill from Shelby Coron and a solo block by Elstner that knotted the score at 15. An Elstner kill, a Lemke service ace and a combination block from Allen and Elstner capped the seven-point surge that gave UW-Oshkosh the lead for the remainder of the set. The Titans reached set-point at 24-20 on a Falcon service error and ended the frame two points later following another service error.
UW-Oshkosh scored the first seven points of the second set, extended its advantage to 14-1 and never looked back as Concordia University Wisconsin committed 11 total errors over the first 15 points. Highlighting the set-opening scoring run were a service ace by Becky Brezen, and three kills and a solo block from Elstner. The Falcons cut their deficit to 21-16 before the Titans captured four of the last five points, which included a double-block from Allen and Samantha Jaeke, kills by Allen and Coron, and Elstner's service ace on set-point.
The Falcons owned leads of 10-3 and 11-4 during the third set and did not trail in the final frame until a 21-20 deficit following Concordia University Wisconsin's 25th attack error of the match. UW-Oshkosh turned a 20-15 deficit into a 21-20 lead behind a 6-0 scoring run that featured kills from Jaeke and Lemke, a solo block by Renee Rush and a combination block from Jaeke and Lemke. Clinging to a 23-22 edge, the Titans claimed two of the last three points on kills from Lemke and Elstner.
Megan Meyer led the Falcons with seven kills despite being held to a -.036 hitting percentage with eight errors on 28 attacks.
Concordia University Wisconsin's Mackenzie Wockenfus and Madelyn Alton led all players with 18 assists and 11 digs, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh remains in Mequon for matches against Illinois Wesleyan University and Cardinal Stritch University matches Saturday (Oct. 20). Illinois Wesleyan University is ranked 15th in the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.