Titans Split Four Matches At Elmhurst College Invitational

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team split its four matches at the Elmhurst College Invitational on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 22-23) in Elmhurst, Ill.

UW-Oshkosh (24-7) beat Central College (Ill.) 14-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13 and lost to Elmhurst College (Ill.) 25-12, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19 on Friday. The Titans followed that up with a victory over Cornell College (Iowa), 18-25, 25-15, 25-14, 20-25, 15-13 and a setback to the University of Chicago (Ill.), 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23 on Saturday.

The left-side hitting duo of Aleisha Bagin (So. • West Bend) and Andrea Smith (Sr. • Fond du Lac) had an outstanding weekend in totaling 59 and 55 kills, respectively. Smith added 47 digs, four service aces and seven blocks.

Morgan Liebetrau (So. • West Bend) provided 127 assists, 35 digs, eight blocks and five service aces, as Christina Cahoon (Sr. • Watertown) recorded 42 digs and Andrea Felton (So. • New Berlin) 39 kills and 22 digs. Sarah Petermann (Fr. • Appleton) pitched in 31 digs and Larissa Krumplitch (So. • Appleton) 12 blocks.

Smith led UW-Oshkosh during its exciting win over Central College (17-10) with 18 kills and 17 digs. Felton provided 13 kills and 15 digs, Bagin 16 kills and Brittany Gruning (So. • Mukwonago) nine kills in 16 attempts. Cahoon totaled 16 digs, while Liebetrau collected 15 digs and ran the offense with 53 assists. Robyn Eggert (Fr. • Woodridge, Ill.) amassed three service aces and eight digs.

In its second defeat to Elmhurst College (19-10) this year, UW-Oshkosh hit a combined .000 in the three sets it lost. Bagin was the only Titan to manage double-digit kills with 11. Cahoon notched 16 digs, Krumplitsch posted six blocks and Liebetrau dished out 28 assists. Smith contributed 11 digs and eight kills.

UW-Oshkosh survived another close match by hitting .625 on 11 kills in set five to claw out the victory against Cornell College (16-14). Smith sparked the offense with 16 kills while adding 10 digs, three blocks and two service aces. Liebetrau had 45 assists, 10 digs and two service aces, Bagin 14 kills and Sarah Petermann (Fr. • Appleton) 16 digs. Anna Ruhland (Fr. • Mazomanie) chalked up 15 digs and Alison Tomczyk (Fr. • Oshkosh) marked eight digs and three service aces. Kelsey Mauer (So. • Sheboygan Falls) slammed down eight kills on 14 attempts, in addition to four blocks by Krumplitsch.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, suffered its loss to the University of Chicago (25-9) despite hitting .268 with 51 kills in the match. The Titans committed 10 receiving errors and picked up only 43 digs in the match. The Maroons entered the contest as the 20th-ranked team in the country. Bagin led the Titans with 18 kills on a .395 hitting percentage. Smith provided 13 kills and nine digs and Felton picked up 10 kills. Mauer hit .400 on six kills, while Liebetrau passed out 46 assists.

UW-Oshksoh travels to Kenosha for the Carthage College Invitational on Oct. 29-30.