Wildcats, Auggies Post Four-Set Wins Over Titans
The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team suffered a pair of 3-1 setbacks to Minnesota institutions St. Catherine and Augsburg universities Saturday (Sept. 18) at the UW-Eau Claire Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament.
UW-Oshkosh (7-6) fell to St. Catherine University (6-6) in set scores of 21-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-27 before dropping a 25-22, 24-26, 20-25, 23-25 decision against Augsburg University (6-4). Saturday marked the first meeting between the Titans and Augsburg University since a 3-1 Auggies win during the 2012 season. St. Catherine University had lost each of its previous eight matches against UW-Oshkosh by 3-0 scores since 2000.
Riley Kindt led UW-Oshkosh with 26 kills on the day while Carissa Sundholm added 20 terminations, Joslyn Wolff 16, and Robyn Kirsch and Kate Nottoli 10 apiece. Kindt and Nottoli recorded eight and seven blocks, respectively. Sundholm had 12 digs in the two matches.
Kalli Mau dished out 48 total assists Saturday for the Titans, who also received 16 assists from Emma Kiekhofer and 10 from Olivia Breunig. Breunig chipped in 15 digs and four service aces. Kiekhofer scooped up nine digs.
Abby Fregien and Amelia Hust both registered a team-leading 19 digs Saturday. Hust entered the weekend as the NCAA Division III leader in total digs.
In Saturday's opening match against St. Catherine University, the Titans hit .099 to finish with just their third match with a hitting percentage under .100 this year.
UW-Oshkosh held narrow advantages of 45-44 in kills, 64-60 in digs and 9-3 in service aces. However, the Wildcats outhit the Titans, .122 to .099, and owned a 6-5 edge in blocks as UW-Oshkosh committed 28 attack errors.
Maggie Rosen paced St. Catherine University with 10 kills while Lauren Skar had nine terminations on .533 hitting in 15 swings.
Marissa Gilbertson collected 14 assists and Abbi Harker 13 in co-directing the Wildcat offense that notched at least 10 kills in each set.
St. Catherine University's Lauren Isaacson led all players with 19 digs to go along with a team-best two service aces.
Wolff pounded down a season- and match-high 11 kills for the Titans while Kindt had 10 and Sundholm eight.
UW-Oshkosh's Breunig amassed six kills, nine assists, 12 digs, four service aces and three blocks.
Mau had 17 assists and three service aces for UW-Oshkosh, and Fregien registered 15 digs.
Trailing 9-6 during the first set, St. Catherine University went on a 13-7 run to take control of the opening frame in which both teams notched 12 kills. The Titans fended off a pair of set-points to pull within 24-21, but a Skar termination ended the frame.
UW-Oshkosh raced out to a 9-1 lead in the second set on the strength of five kills and a pair of service aces. The Titans later held a 24-19 cushion following a double-block by Breunig and Kindt, but the Wildcats rattled off five consecutive points to knot the score at 24. A Kindt termination provided UW-Oshkosh its sixth set-point at 25-24, and a Wildcat attack error on the ensuing point even the match at one set apiece.
The Wildcats took the lead for good in the third set at 7-6 before erasing Set 4 deficits of 18-14, 21-19 and 24-23. A Wolff kill gave UW-Oshkosh a 24-23 edge in the fourth set and, after the teams traded terminations on the following two points, St. Catherine University secured the win with a Lexie Petrick kill and a Titans attack error on the final two points.
During the second match of the day, both Augsburg University and UW-Oshkosh hit at least .200 in every set and combined for 111 kills.
Augsburg University held edges of 57-54 in kills, .257 to .243 in hitting percentage, 56-51 in digs and 8-4 in service aces. UW-Oshkosh owned a 10-7 advantage in blocks.
Kayla Gjerde led the Auggies with 15 kills and added 11 digs.
Augsburg University's leaders also included Lexie Lang with 45 assists and three service aces, Angel Khang and Maddie Nierengarten with 12 digs apiece, and Jade Fullerton with four blocks.
Kindt registered a match-best 16 kills for the Titans, who also received 12 terminations from Sundholm and a season-high 10 from Kirsch.
Mau and Kiekhofer had 31 and 11 assists, respectively, while co-piloting the Titan offense. Nottoli sent back six blocks, and Hust led the UW-Oshkosh backrow defense for the 12th time this season with 11 digs.
Set 1 was tied for 12th the and final time at 20, when back-to-back kills by Sundholm and Nottoli provided the Titans a two-point lead they would not relinquish. Another Sundholm termination and a Kiekhofer service ace upped the UW-Oshkosh cushion to 24-21, and a Wolff kill capped the frame two points later.
The second set was tied on 10 occasions as the Titans rallied from deficits of 14-10 and 20-17 to knot the score at 21 and again at 22, 23 and 24. However, consecutive kills by Kevin Boysen, who finished with 12 terminations in the match, and Gjerde finished the frame.
The Auggies went on to reclaim the Set 3 lead for good at 8-7 and withstood a Titans comeback attempt during the fourth frame. Augsburg University jumped out to leads of 6-1 and 14-7 during the fourth set, but a string of six unanswered UW-Oshkosh points, including kills from Kindt and Sundholm along with a Fregien service ace, gave the Titans a 19-17 advantage. A Nottoli termination extended the UW-Oshkosh cushion to 23-20 before the Auggies responded with the final five points of the match on a trio of kills and a pair of UW-Oshkosh attack errors.
UW-Oshkosh's Kindt was one of seven players receiving all-tournament honors. The others were Boysen from Augsburg University, Kate Holtan from Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), Susana Stevens from Lakeland University, Julia Weiler from St. Catherine University, Grace Baumann from St. Norbert College and Kendra Baierl from UW-Eau Claire.
UW-Oshkosh returns to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at UW-La Crosse on Wednesday (Sept. 22.).