Titans Finish 2-2 At Pacific Coast Classic
Riley Kindt had 28 total kills and Kalli Mau produced a pair of double-doubles as the UW-Oshkosh volleyball team split two matches for the second straight day against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes Saturday (Sept. 4) in Claremont, Calif.
UW-Oshkosh (2-2) downed Whittier College, 3-1, before falling in four sets to nationally ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. The Titans defeated Whittier College in set scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 27-25 and suffered a 24-26, 25-19, 12-25, 25-19 setback to host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, which entered the season ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
In the triumph over Whittier College, UW-Oshkosh outhit the Poets, .216 to .143, to make up for a 57-50 deficit in kills. The Titans also owned advantages of 91-78 in digs, 12-5 in blocks and 10-4 in service aces. UW-Oshkosh established season highs in blocks and service aces during the victory.
Kindt paced the Titans with 13 kills on 29 attacks while Brynna Mayer and Kate Nottoli both added nine kills, and Madyson Pearson and Carissa Sundholm chipped in seven terminations apiece. Headlining the UW-Oshkosh net defense were Mayer with seven blocks, Pearson with six and Nottoli with four.
Mau dished out 27 assists and scooped up 10 digs. Emma Kiekhofer had 12 assists and nine digs co-piloting the UW-Oshkosh attack.
Amelia Hust and Becky Brezen collected 25 and 11 digs, respectively, for the Titans.
Whittier College (1-4) team leaders included Katelyn Popoff with a match-best 16 kills, Della Trimble with 43 assists and Madisen Diaz with 19 digs.
The Titans never trailed until dropping the third set, jumping out to leads of 16-8 in the first frame and 14-8 during the second. UW-Oshkosh pounded down 15 kills and hit .387 in the first set and limited the Poets to a .075 hitting percentage during the second.
UW-Oshkosh seized control of the first set with three consecutive points for a 16-8 advantage as Abby Fregien notched a service ace sandwiched around a pair of Whittier College errors. The Titans then expanded their lead to 21-12 following back-to-back kills from Sundholm and Nottoli before a Mayer termination concluded the frame.
The Titans broke open a tight second set with five straight points, including kills from Courtney Pearson, Kindt, Madyson Pearson to go along with a Mau service ace, for a 14-8 lead. The Poets cut their deficit to 18-17, but UW-Oshkosh closed out the set with seven of the last eight points, including kills by Nottoli and Kindt in addition to a pair of service aces from Hust and a combination block by Nottoli and Courtney Pearson.
Whittier College built a 13-6 lead during the third set, but the Titans roared back to knot the score at 23 following two Mayer terminations in a row. Consecutive kills from Madyson Pearson and Nottoli provided UW-Oshkosh a 25-24 edge. However, the Poets avoided the sweep by tallying the final three points on a pair of terminations and a service ace.
UW-Oshkosh sprinted out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth set after a string of six straight points that featured kills by Mayer and Sundholm as well as a double-block from Mayer and Madyson Pearson. Whittier College rallied to tie the frame at 23, 24 and again at 25 before a Mayer kill and Poet attack error concluded the contest.
During the loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Titans gave the 2017 national champions all they could handle during the first two sets, recording 34 total kills and hitting .394 hitting in splitting the frames.
Kindt once again led the Titans with a season-best 15 kills while Sundholm added 12 terminations and Madyson Pearson nine.
Mau's third double-double of the season featured 28 assists and 10 digs. Kiekhofer contributed 11 assists and two service aces. Hust and Fregien had 26 and 10 digs, respectively. Hust has compiled at least 21 digs in each of the Titans' four matches this season.
Melanie Williams had 16 kills to headline three Athenas with double digit terminations. Brenna Bell added 15 kills on 25 swings for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, which also received 10 kills from Jenna Layne-Holmes, 32 assists by Georgia McGovern and 16 digs from Jackie Jones.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges held advantages of 59-53 in kills, .273 to .221 in hitting percentage, 71-66 in digs, 6-1 in service aces and 5-4 in blocks.
UW-Oshkosh maintained a lead the entire first set, including as many as five points, until the Athenas scored five straight points for a 21-19 advantage. The Titans owned a 14-9 lead following a Madyson Pearson kill and 15-10 after a Mayer termination. Back-to-back kills from Sundholm and Mayer provided the Titans a 22-21 lead and another Sundholm termination knotted the score at 24. However, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges escaped with the set win by virtue of a Titan error and a Bell kill on the final two points.
The Titans did not let their lead slip away during the second frame, scoring the first three points on kills by Kindt and Madyson Pearson before extending the cushion to 16-9 after six consecutive points that included kills from Kiekhofer and Madyson Pearson to go along with three Kindt terminations. UW-Oshkosh reached set-point at 24-17 on a block by Madyson Pearson and Mayer, and tied the match three points later on an Athenas error.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges went on to lead each point of the final two sets to secure the win.
UW-Oshkosh returns to action Wednesday (Sept. 8) in De Pere against host St. Norbert College and Lakeland University.