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Katelyn Malcheski hit .409 with 12 kills against the Warhawks.
Katelyn Malcheski hit .409 with 12 kills against the Warhawks.

Titans Suffer First Loss Of Season

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team's 15-match unbeaten streak came to an end with a 3-0 loss at UW-Whitewater on Friday (Sept. 26). The Warhawks won the contest in set scores of 25-20, 25-15, 25-20.

The Titans (15-1, 1-1 WIAC) went into the match as one of the two unbeaten teams remaining among the 419 programs in the NCAA Division III. It was UW-Oshkosh's longest season-opening winning streak since a 29-0 start in 2009, when the Titans played in the national semifinals. The 2009 streak also came to an end at UW-Whitewater.

UW-Whitewater (13-5, 2-0 WIAC) outhit UW-Oshkosh .301 to .115, recorded more kills (49-29) and registered more digs (48-38). UW-Oshkosh held a 6-5 advantage in blocks, and both teams recorded one service ace. The match featured 16 service errors, nine by UW-Whitewater.

The teams exchanged points in the opening set until UW-Whitewater broke a 6-6 tie with a five-point run behind four kills. UW-Oshkosh pulled within 20-17, but the Warhawks tallied five of the last eight points on their way to 20 kills and a .390 hitting percentage. The Titans had eight kills on .152 hitting in Set 1.

The second set was tied at 9, but UW-Whitewater used a four-point run later in the frame for an 18-11 lead and never looked back.

UW-Oshkosh raced out to a 4-1 lead in Set 3, but UW-Whitewater rallied to tie it at 7. Leading 19-18, the Warhawks gained three consecutive points on attack errors and went on to close out the match five points later. The Titans had 12 kills on .188 hitting in the final set, but UW-Whitewater had 16 kills and hit .333.

Katelyn Malcheski led UW-Oshkosh with 12 kills on 22 swings, while Brooke Brinkman added 11 kills on 21 attempts. Mandy Trautmann recorded 15 digs and Morgan Cizauskas 19 assists.

Ariel Feiertag paced UW-Whitewater with 12 kills, and Kim Frei had a match-high 41 assists. Jessica Sabey added 11 kills for the Warhawks, while Lauren Pfeifer recorded 10 kills and 10 digs.

UW-Oshkosh returns to the court next weekend at the UW-La Crosse Invitational, where the Titans will play Luther College (Iowa) on Friday (Oct. 3) before playing non-conference matches against UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse on Saturday (Oct. 4).