Titans Capture Wins Over Gorloks, Panthers

The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team remained unbeaten with a pair of victories at the ASICS Invitational hosted by Washington University on Saturday (Sept. 4) in St. Louis, Mo.

The Titans (4-0) won, 3-0, over Webster University (Mo.) by set scores of 25-16, 25-19, 25-9, and 3-1 over Hanover College (Ind.) by set scores of 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22. Webster University (1-2) has appeared in eight of the last nine NCAA Division III Championships.

UW-Oshkosh used long runs to vanquish error-prone Webster University. The Titans closed Set 1 with a 17-2 skein and Set 2 with a 13-4 run. The Titans tallied 10 consecutive points to open an 11-1 lead in Set 3 and rolled to the three-set victory.

The Titans had a slim 31-28 advantage in kills, but the Gorloks committed 31 total errors, including 25 on the attack. UW-Oshkosh had just 13 total errors in the match and outhit Webster University, .208 to .027. After hitting a mere .030 in the first set, the Titans connected for percentages of .280 and .316 in the final two frames. The Gorloks hit -.029 in Set 1, .105 in Set 2 and .000 in Set 3.

UW-Oshkosh also held advantages in service aces (6-0) and blocks (6-2).

Brooke Brinkman led the Titans with seven kills on 13 errorless attempts and three blocks. Tina Elstner, Katelyn Malcheski, Allison Rueger and Nerissa Vogt added five kills each. Mandy Trautmann had a match-high 16 digs for the Titans, who received 19 assists and three blocks from Lexi Thiel and three service aces from Rachel Smith.

The Gorloks' Rachel Nelson led all players with nine kills. Dani Roosman had a team-high 10 assists and Katie O'Toole 12 digs for Webster University.

Against Hanover College (2-1), Trautmann had a season-high 25 digs and Vogt provided 10 kills, nine blocks and two service aces to propel the Titans past the previously unbeaten Panthers.

UW-Oshkosh claimed the first two frames to run its consecutive sets won streak to 11 before the Panthers rebounded to take Set 3 behind a .300 hitting percentage. The Titans had a season-high 18 kills in the first set.

Hanover College raced out to a 9-4 advantage in the fourth set, but UW-Oshkosh rallied to tie the frame at 11 and created separation with a three-point run for a 19-16 lead that the Titans never relinquished. Leading 22-21, UW-Oshkosh received consecutive kills by Brinkman and Laura Trochinski to set up match point. Following a Titan attack error, UW-Oshkosh secured the victory on a ball-handling error.

The Panthers had 12 attack errors and hit -.043 in the decisive fourth set.

UW-Oshkosh had slight advantages in kills (50-45), digs (79-77) and hitting percentage (.131 to .128), while Hanover College had edges in blocks (12-10) and service aces (5-4).

Malcheski paced the Titan attack with 13 kills. Brinkman chipped in 10 kills and Trochinski had nine kills and 12 digs. Thiel compiled her 11th career double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs, while Eilish Regan tied her career best with 13 digs.

Hanover College was led by Kelsey Brandvik's 12 kills, Haley Alexander's 20 assists, Maddie Hartman's 32 digs and Claire Dennis's five blocks. Abby Crump added 19 assists and 12 digs for the Panthers.

UW-Oshkosh concludes play at the ASICS Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 5) when it battles the University of Dallas (Texas) and host Washington University, which is ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Photo courtesy of Danny Reise