Titans Swat Yellowjackets

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball inched closer to its fourth Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athlete Conference title in the last five years with a 25-12, 25-15, 25-21 victory over UW-Superior on Saturday (Oct. 3) in Kolf Sports Center.

With a road win over UW-La Crosse on Wednesday (Oct. 7), UW-Oshkosh (22-0/6-0) will guarantee itself at least a share of the WIAC title. UW-River Falls currently rests 3-1 in the conference trailing UW-Oshkosh by two and one half games.

Trailing 8-5 in the opening set, the Titans responded by scoring 11 of the next 12 points to take a 16-9 advantage. Ahead 19-12, UW-Oshkosh ended the first stanza by scoring the last six points and outhit the Yellowjackets .407-.042 to run away with the first set.

UW-Oshkosh started set two ahead 6-0 and held set point at 24-11 before UW-Superior scored four straight points to close the gap. The Titans took the 10-point win after a kill by Megan Fischer (Sr. • Manitowoc).

The third set was tied 13 times before UW-Superior took a 20-17 advantage after a four-point scoring run. UW-Oshkosh pushed back to take a 21-20 advantage, before UW-Superior again tied the count at 21-21. The Titans finished the match by scoring the last four points of the contest.

UW-Oshkosh, which extended its home winning streak to 25 matches, was led by Fischer who had eight kills and eight digs. Brittney Cote (So. • Orland Park, Ill.) provided 14 digs and three service aces and Jacque Ray (Sr. • Richland Center) had six kills and two blocks.

Katelyn Vara (Sr. • New Berlin) had 19 assists and three blocks and Erin Kelly (Fr. • La Crosse) scooped up six digs. Jordan Guida (Fr. • Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Morgan Liebetrau (Fr. • West Bend) each had seven assists.

UW-Superior (9-10/1-3 WIAC) was led by Jenny Olson who had nine kills. Alison Lothenbach and Sarah Gruber shared setting duties with 11 and 10 assists, respectively and Samantha Blake had a match-high 18 digs.

UW-Oshkosh held advantages of 35-25 in kills, 35-23 in assists, .222-.000 in hitting percentage and 7-3 in blocks. Both teams had 51 digs.