Titans End Perfect Weekend With Sweeps Of Warriors, Knights

All 16 Titans in uniform contributed at least one kill or dig on the day as the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team capped a perfect weekend with a pair of 3-0 victories at its own Pizza Hut Classic on Saturday (Sept. 7) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh (5-2) swept Wisconsin Lutheran College in set scores of 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 before downing Martin Luther College, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16. The Titans, who have won in straight sets during all five of their match wins this season, opened the Pizza Hut Classic with a 3-0 win over Oswego State University (N.Y.) on Friday (Sept. 6).

The Titans have won all six meetings with Martin Luther College since 1995 and extended their winning streak to four consecutive matches against Wisconsin Lutheran College.

UW-Oshkosh's Taylor Allen and Samantha Jaeke were named to the nine-member Pizza Hut Classic All-Tournament Team. Jaeke led the Titans with 21 kills on .349 hitting and 11 blocks during the three matches while Allen had 13 kills on .407 hitting to go along with six blocks over the weekend. Jaeke was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the season-opening Colorado College Classic on Aug. 31.

In the win against Wisconsin Lutheran College, the Titans overcame late deficits in both the first and third sets en route to outhitting the Warriors, .250 to .099.

UW-Oshkosh took the lead for good at 20-19 in the opening set after a kill by Kate Nottoli. Carissa Sundholm followed with a service ace, and a Warrior attack error extended the Titan advantage to 22-19. Clinging to a 23-22 edge, UW-Oshkosh tallied the next two points on a Wisconsin Lutheran College service error and an Allen solo block.

The Titans went on to hit .368 during a comfortable win in the second set before withstanding another challenge from the Warriors during the third frame.

Jaeke paced the Titans with eight kills and five blocks.

Sundholm added six kills for UW-Oshkosh while Nottoli, who registered four blocks, and Shelby Coron had four kills apiece, and Allen chipped in three terminations.

UW-Oshkosh's Rachel Gardner led all players with 17 digs. Rebecca Doughty and Emma Kiekhofer dished out 11 and nine assists, respectively, while co-directing the Titan offense.

Wisconsin Lutheran College (1-5) owned narrow edges in kills (27-26), assists (23-21) and service aces (7-3). The Titans held advantages of 42-39 in digs and 9-3 in blocks.

The Warriors' Grace Tomhave had a match-high 12 kills on 23 attempts. Ally Goba collected 16 digs and three service aces for Wisconsin Lutheran College.

In the win over Martin Luther College, 10 different Titans recorded kills as all 16 UW-Oshkosh players received significant playing time.

UW-Oshkosh hit a season-high .394, including .423 in the first set and .455 during the third frame. The Titans concluded the contest with considerable advantages of 37-19 n kills, .394 to .085 in hitting percentage, 34-18 in assists, 7-4 in service aces, 28-18 in digs and 5-1 in blocks.

The Titans produced their best hitting percentage in the 86 matches since compiling a .395 rate against University of Minnesota Morris on Oct. 15, 2016.

Rachel Aasby had a match-best nine kills on 15 errorless attempts for the Titans.

Sundholm added six kills for UW-Oshkosh, which also received five kills on eight swings by Allen and four kills from both Jaeke and Kendall Enyart. UW-Oshkosh's Claire Bresser led all players with three blocks, Becky Brezen had a team-leading five digs and a pair of service aces, and Kiekhofer (17) and Doughty (13) combined for 30 assists.

The Titans assumed control of the first set with six points in a row for an 11-7 lead. A Sundholm kill upped the cushion to 16-9, and Gardner's service ace provided set-point at 24-15.

UW-Oshkosh then raced out to a 7-1 lead in the second set on the strength of two kills from Allen, one kill apiece by Aasby and Sundholm, and a double-block from Allen and Jaeke. A string of five straight points that featured three blocks, a pair of kills and a service ace extended the UW-Oshkosh advantage to 18-9 before the Titans tallied their final three points of the frame via kills, including the last two by Brynna Mayer.

The Titans secured the sweep as a run of five unanswered points, which included kills by Enyart, Mayer and Sundholm, gave UW-Oshkosh a 16-10 lead in the third set. Four Aasby kills and a combination block by Aasby and Bresser accounted for five of the Titans' final eight points of the match.

UW-Oshkosh travels to Stevens Point on Wednesday (Sept. 11) to play Lawrence University and St. Norbert College.