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Women's Volleyball

Katelyn Malcheski recorded 11 kills, five blocks and two digs against the Pointers.
Katelyn Malcheski recorded 11 kills, five blocks and two digs against the Pointers.

Pointers Give Titans First WIAC Loss

Box Score

Gabby Thomas had a match-high 19 kills to lead UW-Stevens Point to a 3-1 victory over UW-Oshkosh in a battle of nationally ranked WIAC women's volleyball programs on Wednesday (Oct. 21) in Stevens Point.

UW-Stevens Point (21-7, 2-3 WIAC), ranked 16th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, won the contest in set scores of 31-29, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23.

The Pointers, who have won 24 of their last 25 home matches, hit just .105 but held the Titans to a season-low .053 rate. UW-Stevens Point also held advantages in kills (53-46), service aces (4-2) and blocks (15-13).

Nineteenth-ranked UW-Oshkosh (20-6, 4-1 WIAC), which had its season-best six-match winning streak snapped, falls into a tie for first place in the WIAC standings with ninth-ranked UW-Whitewater (22-3, 4-1 WIAC) and UW-La Crosse (17-8, 4-1 WIAC) with two matches remaining. The Titans defeated both UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse earlier this season.

UW-Oshkosh raced out to an 11-5 advantage in the first set before UW-Stevens Point took its first lead at 17-16 on a kill by Thomas. The Pointers had set-point at 24-21, but the Titans evened the score at 24 on kills by Katelyn Malcheski and Tina Elstner, and a Pointer error. UW-Oshkosh fended off four more set points and had one of its own at 29-28 following a UW-Stevens Point error, but three consecutive attack errors by the Titans ended the frame.

UW-Stevens Point jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second set and took a two-set advantage as the Pointers outhit the Titans, .286 to -.194, in the frame. UW-Oshkosh committed 13 attack errors in the first set and 11 more in the second.

UW-Oshkosh responded by never trailing in the third set. The Titans built leads of 10-5 and 19-11, but the Pointers answered with a 9-1 run that featured five kills and two blocks to knot the score at 20. Tied again at 21, UW-Oshkosh recorded the final four points of the set on a kill by Carly Lemke, two kills by Malcheski and a UW-Stevens Point error on set point.

The Titans held a 17-14 edge in the fourth frame, but the Pointers claimed six of the next seven points for a 20-18 advantage. After UW-Oshkosh tied the score at 20, UW-Stevens Point reclaimed the lead for good on a Titan error and a kill by Danielle Coleman for a 22-20 advantage. The teams exchanged the next five points to set up match point for UW-Stevens Point at 24-23, when Pointer Emma Brunkhorst ended a long rally by depositing a kill to the back of UW-Oshkosh's court on the second contact.

Ellen Drewry added 11 kills and five blocks for UW-Stevens Point. Brunkhorst chipped in 10 kills and a team-leading eight blocks.

Brittany Laffin led all players with 49 assists while directing the Pointer offense, and Hannah Picel had a match-best 30 digs.

Nerissa Vogt led UW-Oshkosh with 15 kills and eight blocks. Malcheski recorded 11 kills and five blocks, while Mandy Trautmann had a team-high 22 digs.

Lexi Thiel registered 37 assists while piloting the UW-Oshkosh offense. Thiel logged her 2,000th career assist in the first set and concluded the match with 2,027 in her three seasons.

UW-Oshkosh heads to Decatur, Ill., this weekend for four non-conference matches at the Linda Slagell Classic hosted by Millikin University. The Titans will play Millikin University and Central College (Iowa) on Friday (Oct. 23) and Illinois institutions University of Chicago and Monmouth College on Saturday (Oct. 24).