Titans Ranked 25th In National Preseason Poll
UW-Oshkosh, which claimed its 12th WIAC women's volleyball championship in 2015, will enter the 2016 season as the 25th-ranked team in the NCAA Division III, according to a preseason poll conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
The Titans return 13 letter winners, including five starters, from last year's squad that compiled a 26-9 record and shared the WIAC title with UW-La Crosse. UW-Oshkosh, unranked in last year's final poll after 10 straight weeks in the top 24, totaled 119 points in this year's balloting.
Defending national champion California Lutheran University (31-5 record in 2015), earned the top spot in this year's preseason poll after collecting 1,221 points and 45 of the 49 first-place votes.
Wittenberg University (Ohio) (29-3), the 2011 national champion, ranked second to the Regals with 1,112 points, while Juniata College (Pa.) (33-3) listed third with 1,096, Emory University (Ga.) (34-4) fourth with 1,001 and 2013 national champion Calvin College (Mich.) (30-4) fifth with 976.
Rounding out the top 10 teams were sixth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) (34-3), seventh-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.) (27-6), eighth-ranked Carthage College (35-8), ninth-ranked Colorado College (34-4) and 10th-ranked Hendrix College (Ark.) (29-9).
UW-Oshkosh was among three WIAC programs mentioned in the poll, with the others being 14th-ranked UW-Whitewater (31-5) and 15th-ranked UW-Stevens Point (27-9).
In all, UW-Oshkosh will play matches against six teams ranked in this year's preseason poll.
The Titans will host 15th-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Oct. 19 and visit third-ranked Emory University on Sept. 2 and 14th-ranked UW-Whitewater on Sept. 21. UW-Oshkosh will also play 23rd-ranked University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) (26-9) on Oct. 14 in Eau Claire, and eighth-ranked Carthage College on Oct. 21 and 18th-ranked Elmhurst College (Ill.) (24-12) in Whitewater.
Despite losing a pair of All-WIAC first team performers in Katelyn Malcheski and Mandy Trautmann to graduation, UW-Oshkosh does welcome the return of senior middle blocker Nerissa Vogt, who earned all-league first team honors in 2015, and senior outside hitter Brooke Brinkman, who collected all-conference honorable mention status in 2014.
Vogt ended the 2015 season ranked third in the NCAA Division III with 169 blocks and eighth with 1.31 blocks per set. She appeared in 34 matches (129 sets) and listed second on the team with 315 kills. Vogt registered eight or more kills 25 times and at least four blocks on 23 occasions.
In addition to Vogt, the other four starters returning for 13th-year UW-Oshkosh head coach Brian Schaefer are sophomore outside hitter Tina Elstner, sophomore middle blocker Carly Lemke, senior setter Lexi Thiel and sophomore right-side hitter Brianna Witter. Thiel ranked 26th in the NCAA Division III last season with 1,207 assists.
UW-Oshkosh, which hasn't suffered a losing season since 1998, begins practice for its 2016 campaign on Saturday (Aug. 20).