Titans Sweep Blue Devils To Earn Share Of WIAC Title

UW-Oshkosh secured a share of the WIAC women's volleyball title and clinched the top seed for the league's postseason tournament with a 3-0 victory over UW-Stout on Saturday (Oct. 31) in Kolf Sports Center.

The Titans (26-7, 6-1 WIAC) tied UW-La Crosse (19-8, 6-1) atop the conference standings, but UW-Oshkosh won the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed and the right to host the final two days of the WIAC Championship by virtue of its 3-0 win over UW-La Crosse on Oct. 7.

UW-Oshkosh and second-seeded UW-La Crosse, which concluded league play on Friday (Oct. 30), both receive byes into a six-team WIAC Championship that begins with a pair of first-round games on Tuesday (Nov. 3).

Opening round contests feature fourth-seeded UW-Eau Claire (26-8, 4-3) hosting fifth-seeded UW-Stevens Point (24-7, 4-3) and third-seeded UW-Whitewater (28-4, 5-2) entertaining sixth-seeded UW-Stout (16-17, 2-5).

UW-La Crosse will play the winner of UW-Whitewater and UW-Stout in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 6) in Kolf Sports Center, while UW-Oshkosh plays at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point.

The losers of both semifinal matches will play for third place at noon on Saturday (Nov. 7), while the championship final follows at 2:30 p.m. The winner of the WIAC Championship earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship.

UW-Oshkosh won a share of its 12th WIAC title and first since 2010 by defeating UW-Stout in set scores of 25-15, 25-22, 25-13.

The Titans, ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, outhit the Blue Devils, .234 to .037, on the way to improving their season record to 16-0 in three-set matches.

UW-Oshkosh also held advantages in kills (36-23), digs (57-50), service aces (5-2) and blocks (10-5).

Katelyn Malcheski recorded a match-high 12 kills for her 25th match with double-figure terminations this season.

Brianna Witter added 11 kills for the Titans, who also received seven kills and four blocks from Tina Elstner, 33 assists from Lexi Thiel and 26 digs from Mandy Trautmann. Nerissa Vogt led all players with six blocks to increase her Division III-leading total to 157 on the year.

UW-Oshkosh scored the last 10 points of the first set, including a tip kill by Witter on set point. UW-Stout was held to -.042 hitting in the frame.

The Blue Devils opened the second set with five straight points and held a 17-12 advantage before the Titans scored eight consecutive points to take a 20-17 lead. UW-Oshkosh upped its lead to 24-19 and won the set four points later.

UW-Oshkosh rolled out to a 15-5 lead in the third set, and Malcheski capped the victory with a kill on match point.

Molly Brion paced UW-Stout with seven kills. Maddie Phyle and Payton Schultz led the Blue Devils with 14 assists and 18 digs, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh had lost its previous three matches to UW-Stout.