Titans Pull Out Five-Set Win Over Rams

Lexi Thiel and Nerissa Vogt combined for a block on the third match point as the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team escaped with a 3-2 victory over Cornell College (Iowa) on Saturday (Oct. 3) in Colorado Springs, Colo.

UW-Oshkosh (15-5), ranked 19th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, won by set scores of 25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 12-25, 15-13.

The Titans scored eight of 11 points in the fifth set, including seven in a row, to set up match point at 14-11. Cornell College fended off two match points on a kill and a UW-Oshkosh attack error, but Thiel and Vogt stuffed Diamond Boyd's attempt just inside the left side of the Rams' court on the ensuing point to secure the win.

Cornell College tallied the first three points of the fifth frame before UW-Oshkosh rallied to tie the score at 5 on a kill by Katelyn Malcheski. The Rams extended their lead to 9-6 on a UW-Oshkosh attack error, but the Titans scored seven unanswered points on three blocks, two kills and two other Cornell College errors to take a 13-9 advantage. The Rams marked the next two points to cut their deficit to 13-11 before a kill by Vogt gave the Titans match point.

The Titans had 5.5 blocks and held the Rams to a .000 hitting percentage in the decisive fifth set.

UW-Oshkosh played its fifth consecutive five-set match, including all three contests in Colorado. The Titans, who upped their record to 4-3 in five-set matches this season, were defeated in five sets by host and ninth-ranked Colorado College and 15th-ranked Elmhurst College (Ill.) on Friday (Oct. 2).

Vogt led the Titans with a season-high 16 kills and a career-best 12 blocks. Allison Rueger added 12 kills on .524 hitting, while Thiel contributed 38 assists, 12 digs and a career-high eight blocks. Malcheski had her 15th double-digit kill performance of the year with 10 terminations. Mandy Trautmann paced the UW-Oshkosh back row with 19 digs.

UW-Oshkosh won the opening set handily after outhitting Cornell College, .323 to .028.  The Titans jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never trailed.

Cornell College pounded down 18 kills, including seven by Boyd, to claim the second set. UW-Oshkosh held a 12-8 lead in the frame before the Rams marked seven of the next eight points to take a 15-13 advantage. Two straight kills by Boyd put Cornell College ahead, 24-22, and a service error and a kill by Vogt knotted the score at 24, but consecutive kills by Nicole Ciari evened the match.

The teams exchanged victories in the third and fourth sets. The Titans got out to an 18-10 advantage in the third set, but three straight hitting errors allowed the Rams to pull within 21-19. Following a UW-Oshkosh timeout, the Titans recorded four of the last five points.

In the fourth set, Cornell College outhit UW-Oshkosh, .429 to .000, and held leads of 10-1 and 24-10.

Cornell College ended the match with advantages in kills (60-47), hitting percentage (.153 to .147) and service aces (9-4). UW-Oshkosh had edges of 15.5 to 12 in blocks and 67-62 in digs.

The Rams' Boyd led all players with 20 kills. Ciari registered 13 kills and a team-leading seven blocks for Cornell College, which also received nine kills and 10 digs from Mariah Brandly, 24 assists and 10 digs from Katherine Devlin, and a team-best 12 digs from Julie Ward.

Cornell College's Boyd and UW-Oshkosh's Thiel and Vogt were named to the eight-member all-tournament team. The trio was joined by Courtney Birkett, Abbe Holtze and Sophie Merrifield from Colorado College; and Hannah Nimrick and Alli Rogers from Elmhurst College. Holtze was named the most valuable player of the tournament after leading the Tigers to a 3-0 record.

UW-Oshkosh returns home to face WIAC rival UW-La Crosse on Wednesday (Oct. 7) in Kolf Sports Center.