Four Titans Receive All-WIAC Volleyball Honorable Mention Recognition
UW-Oshkosh seniors Tina Elstner and Carly Lemke, and juniors Rachel Gardner and Samantha Jaeke have each been selected to the All-WIAC Women's Volleyball Honorable Mention Team.
Elstner, an outside hitter, received All-WIAC recognition for the third consecutive year after garnering first team accolades in 2016 and 2017.
Lemke, a middle blocker, was also selected to the league's honorable mention team in 2016 while rightside hitter Samantha Jaeke was chosen to the first team a year ago. Gardner, a libero, was named to the all-conference team for the first time.
The four Titans were among 12 players on the All-WIAC Honorable Mention Team. The 12-member All-WIAC First Team was headlined by Offensive Player of the Year Madelyn Pashibin from UW-Eau Claire and Defensive Player of the Year Brittany Robinson from UW-Whitewater. UW-Eau Claire's Kim Wudi was named the league's Coach of the Year after guiding the Blugolds to the conference championship.
UW-Oshkosh's four All-WIAC selections were tied with UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater for the second most in the league. UW-Eau Claire had a league-leading five all-conference players while UW-Stevens Point had three, and UW-La Crosse and UW-River Falls two apiece.
Elstner leads the Titans with 3.29 points and 2.64 kills per set this season. She also ranks second on the squad with 2.42 digs per set and has added 20 service aces despite missing the first 10 matches of the season due to injury.
Elstner, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Aurora University (Ill.) Invitational on Sept. 22, has produced double-digit kill totals on six occasions this season, including a season-best 18 terminations to go along with 13 digs against Aurora University. Her three double-doubles on the year include 13 kills and 14 digs against Ripon College and 13 kills and 16 digs against UW-Stout. Elstner, who surpassed 1,000 career kills earlier this season, also collected season highs of 22 digs against UW-River Falls and three service aces against the University of Northwestern (Minn.).
Lemke currently ranks eighth in the WIAC with 0.73 blocks per set and 10th with a .242 hitting percentage. She was named to the All-Tournament Teams at UW-Oshkosh's own Pizza Hut Classic as well as the University of Puget Sound (Wash.) Premiere and the Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) Invitational.
Lemke, who leads the Titans with 24 service aces, ranks second on the team with 71 blocks. She had five double-digit kill performances over the first 11 matches of the season, including a season-high 13 against Elizabethtown College (Pa.). Lemke has hit better than .300 10 times this season, attacking a season-best rate of .600 on 10 attempts against Augustana College. She has at least one block in all but two of her 29 matches played, rejecting a season-high seven attacks against University of Puget Sound.
Jaeke, who missed the first 13 matches of the season because of injury, had a season-best 12 kills against Aurora University. She also recorded 11 kills against UW-River Falls and 10 against UW-Stout. Jaeke, averaging 2.43 points and 2.07 kills per set on the year, has registered blocks during 16 of her 18 matches played this season, sending back a season-high five attacks against Concordia University Wisconsin.
Jaeke has hit above .330 seven times this season, including .467 against UW-Platteville, .462 against Cardinal Stritch University and .429 against UW-Stevens Point.
Gardner ranks fifth in the WIAC with 5.06 digs per set. She has led the team in digs during 27 of the Titans' 31 matches this season. Gardner was named to the All-Tournament Teams at the Pizza Hut Classic, the University of Puget Sound Premiere and the Aurora University Invitational this year.
Gardner, who has chipped in 80 assists and 18 service aces this season, owns 28 matches this year with double-digit digs, including a season-high 32 against St. Norbert College, and 30 against both Lakeland University and UW-La Crosse (first round of WIAC Championship).
UW-Oshkosh, which placed sixth in the WIAC standings with a 2-5 record, takes a 17-14 overall record into tonight's (Nov. 1) contest at UW-Whitewater (23-6) in the semifinal round of the league's postseason tournament.
UW-Eau Claire (27-3) claimed this year's WIAC championship with a 7-0 record. Rounding out the conference standings were second-place UW-Whitewater with a 6-1 record; third-place UW-La Crosse (16-13), UW-Stevens Point (18-15) and UW-Stout (16-13) with 4-3 marks; sixth-place UW-Oshkosh; seventh-place UW-River Falls (16-19) at 1-6; and eighth-place UW-Platteville (9-23) at 0-7.