Titans Host Eagles In WIAC Tournament Opener
Fourth seeded UW-Oshkosh will seek to avenge a regular season loss when its hosts fifth seeded UW-La Crosse during the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament (presented by Culver's) on Tuesday (Nov. 2). The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (18-11) suffered a 3-2 setback at UW-La Crosse (20-10) on Sept. 22 that dropped the Titans' record to 0-3 in the WIAC and 7-7 overall. However, UW-Oshkosh rebounded to finish the regular season with 11 wins in its last 17 matches, including all four remaining league contests, to force a three-way tie for third in the WIAC standings with UW-Stevens Point and UW-La Crosse.
UW-Stevens Point (25-6), which earned the third seed by virtue of a sets-won tiebreaker involving the Titans and UW-La Crosse, hosts sixth seeded UW-Platteville (13-15) in Tuesday's other first round match of the six-team WIAC Tournament.
The WIAC Tournament continues with semifinal matches Thursday (Nov. 4) and concludes with the title contest Saturday (Nov. 6).
Top seeded UW-Eau Claire (27-3), which went unbeaten in conference play, and second seeded UW-Whitewater (25-1) receive byes into Thursday's conference semifinals. UW-Eau Claire, ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, will host the winner between UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse, while eighth-ranked UW-Whitewater welcomes the victor of 24th-ranked UW-Stevens Point and UW-Platteville.
The winner of the WIAC Tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the 64-team Division III Championship that commences Nov. 10.
UW-Whitewater has secured 16 of the 32 WIAC Tournament titles since 1988. UW-Oshkosh is next with four league postseason championships, followed by UW-Stevens Point and UW-Platteville with three apiece, and two by both UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse. The Titans clinched WIAC Tournament titles in 1990, 1991, 1994 and 2008.
UW-Stevens Point, which won the 2019 WIAC tournament, is the defending champion. The 2020 WIAC women's volleyball season, including the postseason tournament, was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse will be meeting in the WIAC Tournament for the 14th time. The Eagles boast a 9-4 record against UW-Oshkosh in the league postseason, but the Titans ousted UW-La Crosse from the 2018 tournament in their most recent matchup, becoming the first six seed in 21 years to win a match during the event. UW-Oshkosh's 2018 triumph snapped a string of four consecutive Eagles wins in their postseason series, which started with a victory during the 2013 first round, continued with a win in the 2015 third-place match, and culminated with semifinal victories in both 2016 and 2017.
The Titans and Eagles are vying to continue their quests to become the first team seeded lower than third to ever win the WIAC Tournament.
UW-Oshkosh is hitting .176 on the year while averaging 11.55 kills, 16.26 digs, 1.97 blocks and 1.56 service aces per set. UW-La Crosse is attacking at a .180 rate and averages 12.66 kills, a WIAC best 16.85 digs, 1.63 blocks and 1.74 service aces per frame.
Six Titans have registered at least 107 kills on the year, including Carissa Sundholm with 314 and Riley Kindt with 308. Olivia Breunig has contributed 148 terminations, Kate Nottoli 146, Madyson Pearson 111 and Joslyn Wolff 107 for UW-Oshkosh. Kindt paces the squad with a .274 hitting percentage. Nottoli has a team leading 91 total blocks.
UW-Oshkosh's Amelia Hust anchors the backrow defense with 543 digs to rank ninth in the country while Abby Fregien has scooped up 260 digs for the Titans. Hust has also notched a team best 41 service aces.
Codirecting the Titans offense are Kalli Mau and Emma Kiekhofer with 612 and 409 assists, respectively.
Emma Lawrence spearheads the UW-La Crosse offense, pounding down 439 kills on .240 hitting. Brianne Korducki is a distance second on the Eagles with 203 terminations.
Other UW-La Crosse team leaders include Megan Adams and Jackie Oetterer, who have combined for 964 assists, Sophie Quell with 375 digs, Anna Rossner with 79 blocks, and Lawrence and Isabelle Jensen with 39 service aces apiece. Jensen's 0.51 service aces per set tops the conference.
The Eagles won their conference postseason championships in 2003 and 2017.
Top seeded UW-Eau Claire leads the WIAC in several statistical categories, including with 13.06 kills and 11.96 assists per set. The Blugolds' 2.26 blocks per frame are good for second in the conference and eighth nationally.
UW-Eau Claire's Charlie Nelson ranks seventh in the nation at 10.63 assists per set while Kendra Baierl is eighth in the division with a .411 hitting percentage.
UW-Whitewater is the conference leader with a .244 hitting percentage in addition to 2.40 blocks and 2.04 service aces per set. The Warhawks rank fourth in the country in blocks per frame.
UW-Stevens Point features Ashley Kopp, who is seventh nationally with 5.05 points and 4.37 kills per set.
UW-Platteville gained entry to the WIAC Tournament via a three-way sets-won tiebreaker with UW-River Falls and UW-Stout. The Pioneers' Kaite Asche lead the division with 127 total blocks.
UW-Oshkosh sports a 37-36 record at the WIAC Tournament, In addition to their four league tournament titles, the Titans also advanced to the WIAC Tournament final in 1993, 1995 and 2001.