Titans Play The Minimum Sets In Wins Over Saints, Falcons
The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team defeated a pair of opponents by 3-0 scores to conclude play at the UW-Oshkosh Pizza Hut Classic on Saturday (Sept. 10) in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh swept The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) in set scores of 25-12, 25-15, 25-18 before dispatching Concordia University Wisconsin with results of 25-14, 25-22, 25-16. The Titans (8-2) have won four of their five meetings with The College of St. Scholastica and seven of the eight matchups with Concordia University Wisconsin since 1995.
UW-Oshkosh, which improved its winning streak to six matches, went unbeaten in four contests at the nine-team Pizza Hut Classic. On Friday (Sept. 9), the Titans won, 3-0, over Milwaukee School of Engineering and 3-2 over Millikin University (Ill.), which entered the tournament ranked 22nd in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
The Titans were represented on the 12-member all-tournament team by Tina Elstner, Samantha Jaeke and Lexi Thiel. In the four UW-Oshkosh victories, Elstner totaled 49 kills and 19 digs while Jaeke had 35 kills and 10 blocks, and Thiel 134 assists and 37 digs.
In the win over The College of St. Scholastica (1-6), UW-Oshkosh never trailed during the first two sets and scored the final seven points in the third.
UW-Oshkosh outhit the Saints, .234 to .094, and recorded a season-high nine service aces.
Elstner paced the Titans with nine kills in two sets played while Jaeke added six kills and two service aces.
Thiel notched her 27th career double-double with 26 assists and 13 digs to go along with four kills and four service aces. Katie Hodges chipped in 10 digs for the Titans.
The Titans scored the first six points of the match on four kills and a pair of service aces by Thiel. UW-Oshkosh upped its lead to 12-3 on a combination block by Brooke Brinkman and Jaeke and led by at least five points for the rest of the set.
In the second set, UW-Oshkosh jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 7-2. The College of St. Scholastica trimmed its deficit to 14-11 on a UW-Oshkosh attack error before the Titans extended their advantage to 19-11 following two kills by Elstner one kill by Brinkman, and two errors by the Saints.
The Saints connected for four straight kills to take a 4-1 lead in the final set before the Titans rallied to knot the score at 7. UW-Oshkosh reclaimed a 9-8 edge on a block by Nerissa Vogt and never trailed for the remainder of the match. Tied at 18, the Titans claimed the last seven points on a pair of kills by Carly Lemke, one kill by Kimberly Schwobe, one service ace by Thiel and three errors by the Saints.
The College of St. Scholastica was led by the six kills apiece from Christaia Houser and Nikki Kienzle, 16 assists by Emily Kessler and a match-high 19 digs by Alex Barsody.
Against Concordia University Wisconsin (5-2), UW-Oshkosh held advantages in kills (38-31), hitting percentage (.319 to .081), digs (45-35) and blocks (11-7).
Jaeke led UW-Oshkosh with 12 kills, a .611 hitting percentage and four blocks while Elstner had 11 kills.
Thiel dished out 30 assists for the Titans, who also received four blocks apiece from Brinkman and Lemke.
In the opening set, the Titans recorded five straight points to increase their lead to 16-6 as Concordia University Wisconsin committed eight errors during the first 22 points and hit just -.161 in the frame.
The second set was tied for the 11th and final time at 15 when a kill by Shannon Herman put the Titans ahead for good. Leading 22-21, UW-Oshkosh received a kill and a service ace from Jaeke to provide set-point, and a kill by Herman ended the frame two points later as the Titans hit .400 with 15 kills in the set.
UW-Oshkosh never trailed in the final set. Three straight Falcon errors gave the Titans a 16-12 lead, and UW-Oshkosh tallied the final five points of the match on kills from Brinkman and Jaeke, solo blocks from Brinkman and Herman, and a combination block on match-point by Brinkman and Jaeke.
Concordia University Wisconsin was led by the nine kills from Makenzie Paszek, nine digs from Kaily Moegenburg and a match-best six blocks from Lauren Novinski. Ashley Jehlicka had 15 assists and Karina Klotz 14 while sharing setting duties for the Falcons.
UW-Oshkosh visits Ripon College on Tuesday (Sept. 13).