Titans Split Contests With Gusties, Eagles
Samantha Jaeke had a season-high 16 kills in the opening contest as the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team totaled 38.5 blocks and split a pair of matches to begin the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament on Friday (Oct. 14) in Eau Claire.
UW-Oshkosh (18-5), ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, defeated Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), 3-2, before losing a 3-1 decision to 24th-ranked University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.).
The Titans eked past the Gustavus Adolphus College (15-5) in set scores of 22-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 15-8 to improve their record to 7-0 in five-set matches this season. It also marked the second time this year that UW-Oshkosh, which snapped a three-match losing streak to the Gusties, erased a two-set deficit.
The University of Northwestern-St. Paul (22-3), which notched its first victory in four meetings with UW-Oshkosh, defeated the Titans in set scores of 25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 25-15.
Jaeke, who eclipsed her previous season high of 15 kills, hit .313 and contributed five blocks in the victory over the Gusties before adding seven kills, eight blocks and five service aces in the loss to the Eagles.
Against Gustavus Adolphus College, the Titans racked up a season-high 24.5 blocks – the program's most since amassing 26 against the University of La Verne (Calif.) in 2002. UW-Oshkosh entered the match ranked third in the country with 194 blocks and fourth with 2.55 blocks per set.
Tina Elstner notched her eighth double-double of the year with 10 kills and 10 digs for the Titans, who also received a season-high 28 digs from Rachel Gardner.
UW-Oshkosh's Lexi Thiel had 39 assists and matched her career high with eight blocks while Nerissa Vogt and Carly Lemke contributed eight and five blocks, respectively.
The Titans held advantages in kills (49-44), hitting percentage (.129 to .041), digs (79-67) and blocks (24.5-8) while the Gusties had an 8-4 edge in service aces.
Gustavus Adolphus College was led by 14 kills and three service aces from Hanna Albers, 32 assists from Nora Holtan, 22 digs from Brittany Luethmers and four blocks from both Sam Haugen and Carly Thompson.
In the setback to the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, Lindsey Peterson led three Eagles in double figures with 19 kills.
Shanay Gonder added 11 kills and Freya Hanson 10 as the Eagles held a 56-40 advantage in kills and a .250 to .123 margin in hitting percentage. Hanson and Peterson also recorded double-doubles with 17 and 12 digs, respectively.
University of Northwestern-St. Paul's Leesa Hulstrand led all players with 29 assists, and Jackie Doering collected a match-best 22 digs.
UW-Oshkosh held advantages in service aces (6-5), digs (73-66) and blocks (15-8), but the Titans also committed 44 total errors, including 22 on the attack and 13 on the block.
Vogt paced the Titans with a season-high 12 kills and eight blocks. Thiel had 28 assists while directing the UW-Oshkosh offense. Gardner led the Titan back row with 18 digs while Elstner added five kills and 16 digs.
UW-Oshkosh concludes its trip to Eau Claire by playing the University of Minnesota Morris and Martin Luther College (Minn.) on Saturday (Oct. 15).