Titans Split Pair Of Matches In Buckeye State

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on the final day of the Ohio Northern University Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 17) in Ada, Ohio.

UW-Oshkosh (11-4) defeated first-time opponent Denison University (Ohio), 3-1, in set scores of 25-23, 25-8, 18-25, 25-17. The Titans then fell to host Ohio Northern, 3-1, in scores of 17-25, 25-19, 17-25, 22-25 during the de facto invitational championship match. Ohio Northern (9-2), which has made five straight trips to the NCAA Division III Championship, has now won 28 consecutive home matches dating back to the 2019 campaign.

UW-Oshkosh played reigning North Coast Athletic Conference regular season champion Denison (4-6) for the first time and met defending Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and postseason champion Ohio Northern for the first time since 2003. UW-Oshkosh and Ohio Northern are both receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll.

UWO 3, Denison 1
UW-Oshkosh hit a season-best .328 in the match, including a whopping .700 during the second set, .370 in the third frame and .300 during the first. The Titans owned significant advantages of 57-43 in kills, .328 to .189 in hitting percentage and 80-60 in digs.

Denison held edges of 11-4 in service aces and 5-4 in blocks. UW-Oshkosh went into the weekend leading the division in total blocks while ranking third nationally in total blocks and eighth in total kills.

UW-Oshkosh's Carissa Sundholm, who represented the Titans on the All-Tournament Team, led all players with 17 kills on .395 hitting to go along with 12 digs. The double-double was Sundholm's third this season and 11th career.

Robyn Kirsch added 15 terminations for the Titans – one shy of tying a career high – and hit .286 on 35 swings while Riley Kindt had 10 kills on .400 hitting in addition to a match-best four blocks. Kindt headed into the weekend seventh in the country in total blocks.

Riley Dahlquist (.400), Olivia Breunig (.308) and Maddy Pearson (.300) also hit .300 or better for UW-Oshkosh, which produced its best hitting percentage since attacking at a .348 rate against Finlandia University (Mich.) on Oct. 12, 2019.

Kalli Mau and Izzy Coon co-directed the efficient Titans offense, distributing 23 and 21 assists, respectively. Coon collected 14 digs to notch her third double-double of the year.

Abby Fregien had a team-leading 18 digs for the Titans after entering the tournament second nationally in total digs. Amelia Hust chipped in 12 digs for the UW-Oshkosh backrow defense.

Lucy Anderson paced Denison with 14 kills and three blocks. Jenna Corrao had a team-high 20 digs and five service aces for the Big Red, who also got a match-best 33 assists from Kirby Mackinnon.

UW-Oshkosh took its first lead of the match at 19-18 in the opening set following a Big Red attack error. A Sundholm kill and a Denison attack error on consecutive points gave the Titans a 23-21 cushion before a Pearson termination provided set-point at 24-22. After a Denison sideout, the next Big Red serve sailed out of bounds to clinch the frame for the Titans.

The Titans steamrolled through Set 2, building leads of 5-1 and 18-6 following a string of seven straight points. UW-Oshkosh then extended its run to 12-1 with another five points in a row that featured a pair of Kindt kills and a Kirsch termination. The Titans later secured the set on back-to-back kills by Kirsch and Kindt.

The Big Red rebounded to claim the third set in which the teams combined to hit .415, including a .462 rate by Denison. However, The Titans went on to trail for just one point during the fourth frame. UW-Oshkosh closed out the match in style, scoring the final seven points on four kills, a pair of Denison attack errors and a Sundholm ace on match-point.

Ohio Northern 3, UWO 1
Ohio Northern extended its home winning streak to 28 matches after producing 61 kills on .297 hitting while UW-Oshkosh had 42 terminations and hit .116. The Titans held advantages of 9-6 in blocks and 9-5 in service aces.

Sundholm led the Titans with 16 kills. Kindt had 11 kills and a team-leading five blocks for UW-Oshkosh, which also received 17 assists and four service aces from Mau, 15 assists from Coon and a team-best nine digs from Hust.

Erin Wagner had a match-high 20 kills on 30 swings for the Polar Bears.

The teams alternated lopsided victories during the first three sets as the Polar Bears jumped out to leads of 14-6 in the first frame and 21-10 during the third set, and the Titans owned a 15-8 cushion in the second.

Set 4 was tied for the seventh and final time at 22, when Ohio Northern got three straight Wagner kills to conclude the match.

UW-Oshkosh returns to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at UW-Platteville on Wednesday (Sept. 21).