No. 12 Titans Win in Last Regular Season Conference Match
OSHKOSH, Wis- The No. 12 UW-Oshkosh Titans women's volleyball team (28-4, 6-1 WIAC) ended regular season conference play with a clean sweep over UW-Stout (12-16, 1-6 WIAC).
Head coach Jon Ellmann was presented with a game ball signed by the team commemorating his 100th career win by Athletic Director Darryl Sims and Assistant Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Abby Gildernick.
Titan Leaders
Freshman Riley Dahlquist had a season-high fourteen kills on the night, with Carissa Sundholm behind her at ten. Riley Kindt had eight kills on 15 total attacks, good for a team-best 0.533 kill percentage. WIAC leader Abby Fregien had 22 digs, her 14th match this season with at least 20 digs. Fregien and Amelia Hust each had three aces, with two Titans right behind them with two of their own.
Blue Devil Leaders
Lydia Kneubuehl led the Blue Devils with seven kills, owning a team-best 0.263 attacking percentage. Kennedy Barrett, third in the WIAC in assists (893) had the most on Stout tonight with 18. Terrah Moshier paced the Blue Devils with 15 digs.
Set Summary
After trading points for the first four rallies of the first set, the Titans went on a 5-0 run, taking a lead that would never get back within four in a 25-12 win. The Titans had five more runs of three points in the set, only allowing the Blue Devils one run of three points, from 17-7 to 17-9.
The Titans fell behind twice early in the second set before going on a twelve-point run that Stout tried to interrupt with a timeout after the seventh point to take a commanding ten-point lead. The run ended with a Fregien service error, but of the next eleven points the Titans scored, nine were kills and the other offensive point was an ace from Hust. The Titans would win the second set by a score of 25-17.
Oshkosh finished up the match with a 25-18 third set win. Both teams went on 3-0 and 2-0 runs to start the set, tying up at 5 all after the first ten serves. The Titans followed with a four-point run ended by a kill from Stout's Jessica Barr. Neither team would score more than three points in a row the rest of the set before Kalli Mau wrapped up the set and match with an ace.
Postgame Interview with Coach Ellmann
In a postgame interview with head coach Jon Ellmann, he was asked about what fans can expect from the team in the WIAC tournament now that they have secured the No. 2 seed and the first-round bye with UW-Whitewater's win over UW-Eau Claire. He said the team prepares for opponents one at a time, so they are looking at the two games they have coming up on Saturday. However, after the first round of the tournament is complete and they know who their opponent is, they will be giving that team their full attention. Video of the interview can be found here.
WIAC Outlook
The Titans have secured the No. 2 seed in this year's WIAC conference volleyball tournament. With the No. 2 seed, they will receive a bye in the first round and play host to the winner of the No. 3/No. 6 game on Thursday, Nov. 3 at Kolf Sports Center.
Watching Records
Carissa Sundholm added ten kills against the Blue Devils on Friday night. The kills bring her career total up to 977. Sundholm has over twelve kills in 17 matches this season and could reach 1,000 career kills over the weekend in Wauwatosa and join thirteen Titans in the 1,000 kills club.
Looking Forward
The Titans head down to Wauwatosa on Saturday to face Carroll University (Wis.) (14-13, 3-5 CCIW) and Wisconsin Lutheran College (11-10, 7-6 NACC).