Titans Defeat Eagles, Thunder In Wisconsin's Capital City

UW-Oshkosh won a pair of women's volleyball matches against Edgewood and Wheaton (Ill.) colleges on Tuesday (Sept. 6) in Madison.

UW-Oshkosh outlasted host Edgewood College, 3-2, before defeating Wheaton College, 3-0. The Titans have won 12 of their 13 meetings with Edgewood College and eight of 12 matchups with Wheaton College since 1995.

The Titans (4-2) defeated Edgewood College (2-3) in set scores of 18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 15-6 and Wheaton College (1-4) by results of 25-14, 25-19, 25-14.

UW-Oshkosh setter Lexi Thiel tallied 34 assists and 10 digs against Edgewood College, and 33 assists and 13 digs against Wheaton College for her 24th and 25th career double-double.

Tina Elstner led the Titans in both contests, contributing 18 kills and 17 digs in the first match and 14 kills and 10 digs in the second. Elstner hit .400 against Wheaton College.

Against Edgewood College, the Titans never trailed in the final two sets. UW-Oshkosh, which defeated the Eagles in five sets for the third straight season, pounded down 17 kills in the fourth set and raced out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth.

UW-Oshkosh held advantages in hitting percentage (.212 to .162) and blocks (12-6) while Edgewood College had more kills (57-50) and digs (68-64).

Samantha Jaeke added 12 kills for the Titans while Carly Lemke had a match-best six blocks.

Edgewood College took control of the first set with a 12-2 run for a 22-14 lead. The Eagles recorded 17 kills and hit .333 in the initial frame.

Trailing 13-10 in the second set, UW-Oshkosh tallied the next five points on a kill by Jaeke, two service aces by Morgan Windau and an Eagles error. Edgewood College reclaimed a 17-15 lead, but the Titans scored four consecutive points for a 19-17 advantage. Tied at 19, the Titans took the lead for good with four straight points on three Eagle errors and a kill by Elstner. A combination block by Elstner and Nerissa Vogt on set-point tied the match.

The Eagles scored the first seven points during the third set and cruised to a 2-1 lead in sets by collecting 16 kills and limiting the Titans to just seven.

After Edgewood College tied the fourth set at 10, UW-Oshkosh marked six of the next seven points for a 16-11 lead. The Eagles closed to within 21-19, but the Titans secured the set by scoring the final four points on two kills by Elstner, one kill by Shannon Herman and an Eagles error.

The Titans built their 6-1 lead in the decisive set on kills from Brooke Brinkman and Jaeke and four Edgewood College errors. The Eagles trimmed their deficit to 7-4, but the Titans recorded eight of the final 10 points. Both teams had six kills in the final set, but Edgewood College committed nine errors and UW-Oshkosh zero.

Emily Chaussee paced the Eagles with 14 kills while Savannah Koester added 12 and Elizabeth Evans 10. Alex Zapuchlak and Haley Schwenn amassed 21 and 20 assists, respectively.

In the sweep over Wheaton College, the Titans held the Thunder to a negative hitting percentage in the first (-.036) and third (-.069) sets.

UW-Oshkosh ended the match with advantages in kills (40-26), hitting percentage (.306 to .049), digs (47-42) and blocks (8-2).

Jaeke contributed nine kills on .471 hitting for the Titans, and Lemke led all players with four blocks.

The Thunder held a 5-4 lead in the first set before the Titans stormed back with a 10-4 run for a 14-9 advantage. A kill by Jaeke sparked a string of four straight UW-Oshkosh points to end the stanza.

Wheaton College got out to a 12-10 lead in the second set before the Titans scored four of the next five points to reclaim the lead for good. UW-Oshkosh rattled off five consecutive points to push its advantage to 19-14, and the Titans maintained a lead of at least four points the rest of the set.

UW-Oshkosh never trailed in the final set on the way to its first 3-0 victory of the season. The Titans owned a 19-9 lead following a combination block by Brinkman and Jaeke, and Kimberly Schwobe ended the match with her first kill of the year.

The Thunder were led by the 11 kills from Shelby Knowles, 11 assists from both Kelly Thorton and Ashley Torok, and 13 digs from Meghan Lacey.

UW-Oshkosh hosts the nine-team Pizza Hut Classic on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 9-10) in Kolf Sports Center.