Titans' Home Debut Has Mixed Results
The nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team began its home schedule by splitting a pair of matches at the Pizza Hut Classic on Friday (Sept. 11) in Kolf Sports Center.
The Titans (8-2) won their home opener, 3-0, over Wisconsin Lutheran College by set scores of 25-15, 25-21, 25-15 before Concordia University Wisconsin upset UW-Oshkosh, 3-2, by set scores of 17-25, 25-22, 13-25, 28-26, 15-13. UW-Oshkosh entered the Pizza Hut Classic ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Against Wisconsin Lutheran College, the Titans outhit the Warriors, .158 to -.008. UW-Oshkosh recorded 32 kills and 14 attack errors, while Wisconsin Lutheran College had 26 kills and 27 attack errors.
The Titans hit .318 in Set 1, .121 in Set 2 and .118 in Set 3. The Warriors hit .000 in Set 1, .089 in Set 2 and -.140 in Set 3.
The Titans scored 13 of the last 17 points in Set 1 and 16 of the last 21 points in Set 3 to earn their fifth three-set sweep of the season.
Brooke Brinkman and Laura Trochinski led the UW-Oshkosh attack with seven kills apiece. Brinkman added a match-best five blocks, while Nerissa Vogt and Trochinski chipped four and three blocks, respectively.
Lexi Thiel piloted the Titan offense with 25 assists, nine digs and three kills on three attempts. Rachel Smith contributed a career-high five service aces, and Mandy Trautmann had 17 digs.
Just four Warriors hit for a positive hitting percentage. MacKayla Menges had a match-high eight kills on .027 hitting while Carly Wagner recorded seven kills on .188 hitting.
Wisconsin Lutheran College's Megan Wierzbicki led all players with 18 digs, and Warrior Courtney Pattison logged 17 assists and four kills on .087 hitting.
In the Titans' second match of the day, Kaily Moegenburg and Mackenzie Paszek combined for 33 of the Falcons' 57 kills as Concordia University Wisconsin overcame a season-high 15 blocks by UW-Oshkosh.
Moegenburg paced the Falcons with 18 kills, 23 digs and two service aces while Paszek added 15 kills. Besides the Moegenburg and Paszek, just one other Falcon with more than one attack attempt hit for a positive percentage.
Haley Sedo and Karina Klotz had 30 and 21 assists, respectively, while sharing setting duties for the Falcons.
UW-Oshkosh built leads of 17-11 in the first set and 20-10 in the third frame as the Titans cruised to comfortable wins, but Concordia University Wisconsin carried over the momentum from a narrow win in Set 4 by jumping out to an 11-8 advantage in the fifth set.
The Titans outhit the Falcons, .188 to .111, and had a 9-5 advantage in service aces. Concordia University Wisconsin had more kills (58-53), digs (99-85) and blocks (18-15).
UW-Oshkosh hit for a higher percentage in all but Set 2, when Concordia University Wisconsin hit .068 and the Titans .047.
Katelyn Malcheski had 11 kills for UW-Oshkosh, followed by 10 kills and five blocks by Trochinski, and eight kills and six blocks by Vogt.
Brinkman contributed a team-high seven blocks, Eilish Regan four service aces and Trautmann 31 digs.
Thiel had her 14th career double-double with 37 assists and 12 digs to go along with seven kills in 13 errorless attempts.
UW-Oshkosh concludes play at the Pizza Hut Classic by battling St. Catherine (Minn.) and Dominican (Ill.) universities on Saturday (Sept. 12).