Titans Begin Trip To California With Split Decisions
The UW-Oshkosh volleyball team split a pair of matches to open the 2021 season Friday (Sept. 3) in Claremont, Calif. The Titans (1-1) suffered a 3-2 setback against California Lutheran University before defeating Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (Calif.), 3-0.
California Lutheran University (1-1), the 2015 NCAA Division III champion, won in set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-20, 15-11. UW-Oshkosh then swept Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (0-3) in scores of 25-16, 25-21, 27-25. Both California Lutheran University and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges are members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Carissa Sundholm had a team-leading 12 kills in both matches for the Titans while Riley Kindt added 21 kills on the day. Amelia Hust paced UW-Oshkosh with 44 total digs, including 23 during the season opener. Emma Kiekhofer and Kalli Mau dished out 37 and 35 assists, respectively, while co-directing the UW-Oshkosh offense.
Friday marked the first matches for the UW-Oshkosh program in 667 days since the Titan regular season and NCAA postseason were canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In the three-set sweep over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, UW-Oshkosh never trailed during the opening set, scored the final five points of the second frame and played from behind on just four points of the final set. The Titans owned advantages of .235 to .140 in hitting percentage, 6-3 in service aces and 6-0 in blocks.
Sundholm hit .355 on 31 swings as the top four Titan hitters hit .350 or better, including Kindt with nine kills on .350 hitting, Brynna Mayer eight terminations at a .368 rate and Kate Nottoli five kills on .364 hitting.
Kiekhofer and Mau recorded 14 assists apiece, and Hust scooped up 21 digs. Kiekhofer and Hust both accounted for two of UW-Oshkosh's six service aces.
The Titans raced out to leads of 9-3 and 19-10 en route to finishing the first set with 15 kills. UW-Oshkosh then hit .300 with 11 terminations during the second frame before tallying 12 terminations with just three attack errors in the third set.
Chloe Gill led the Sagehens with 10 kills. Pomona-Pitzer College's team leaders also included Kylie Mies with 24 assists and Lauren Asato with 17 digs.
During the setback against California Lutheran University, UW-Oshkosh claimed a 10-9 edge in the final set, but the Regals claimed six of the last seven points to pull out the victory.
UW-Oshkosh took its 10-9 advantage following a California Lutheran University attack error. However, the Regals responded with three straight points on a pair of kills and a Titan hitting error for a 12-10 lead. A Kindt kill pulled the Titans within 12-11, but a Regals termination and two ensuing Titan errors concluded the match.
UW-Oshkosh held advantages of 57-54 in kills and 6-5 in service aces. California Lutheran University narrowly outhit the Titans, .167 to .139, and held an 88-86 edge in digs. Both teams had four blocks.
Kindt and Sundholm registered 12 kills apiece to lead the Titans, who also received 11 terminations from Courtney Pearson, eight kills from Olivia Breunig and six from Nottoli.
Mau and Kiekhofer recorded double-doubles as Mau collected 21 assists and 16 digs while Kiekhofer contributed 23 assists and 10 digs. Abby Fregien chipped in 11 digs for the Titans.
The Regals' Maci Haddad led all players with 15 kills. Julia Trento had a team-best 22 digs for California Lutheran University, which received 22 and 18 assists, respectively, from Jenna Jones and Tess Holbert.
The Titans pounded down 15 kills and hit .448 during its comfortable win in the third set.
UW-Oshkosh wraps up its season opening trip to California on Saturday (Sept. 4) against another pair of SCIAC programs, facing Whittier College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Claremont. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, the 2017 Division III champion, is ranked 10th the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.