Titans Drop WIAC Tournament Semifinal To Blugolds
UW-Oshkosh had four players with double digit kills, but nationally ranked and regular season league champion UW-Eau Claire held on for a 3-2 win during the semifinal round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament (presented by Culver's) on Thursday (Nov. 4) in Eau Claire.
Top seeded UW-Eau Claire advances to the title match of the WIAC Tournament after pulling out a 25-27, 25-16, 25-16, 27-29, 15-9 victory over the Titans.
The Blugolds (28-3), ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, will host eighth-ranked and second seeded UW-Whitewater (26-1) in the conference tournament championship Saturday (Nov. 6). UW-Whitewater won its semifinal, 3-0, over 22nd-ranked third seeded UW-Stevens Point (26-7) on Thursday. The WIAC Championship winner earns the league's automatic berth in to the 64-team Division III Championship that begins with first round matches next Wednesday and Thursday (Nov. 10-11).
Fourth seeded UW-Oshkosh (19-12), which played its program record 12th five-set match, will learn whether it receives one of 20 at-large bids into the Division III Championship field during an online selection show at 11:30 a.m. Monday (Nov. 8).
UW-Eau Claire, which improved to 11-1 at home on the year, held advantages of 70-62 in kills, .258 to .222 in hitting percentage, 13-10 in blocks and 9-1 in service aces. UW-Oshkosh had a 70-65 edge in digs. The Blugolds defeated the Titans, 3-1, during their regular season matchup Oct. 1 in Oshkosh. UW-Oshkosh fell to 6-6 in five setters on the year.
Carissa Sundholm paced UW-Oshkosh with 15 kills while Riley Kindt and Courtney Pearson added 12 terminations apiece, Kate Nottoli had 10 and Olivia Breunig chipped in eight. Sundholm led the team in kills for the 20th time this year. Pearson's 12 terminations were a season high. Nottoli and Kindt hit .389 and .346, respectively, on 44 combined swings.
Kalli Mau dished out 28 assists and Emma Kiekhofer 27 in copiloting the Titans offense. Amelia Hust scooped up a match best 27 digs to lead UW-Oshkosh backrow defense for the 26th occasion this season.
UW-Eau Claire's Arianna Barrett led all players with 20 kills on 38 attempts to go along with six blocks.
Jordan Witzel contributed 18 kills for the Blugolds, who also received 15 terminations and 18 digs from Makenzie Bachmann, 63 assists and 11 digs from Charlie Nelson, and seven blocks from Kendra Baierl.
UW-Oshkosh hit .465 and pounded down 21 kills en route to winning the first set in extra points as the Titans reached set-point at 24-23 on a Kindt kill, 25-24 following a Blugold attack error and again at 26-25 on a Sundholm termination before the Titans secured the frame on another UW-Eau Claire attack error. The Blugolds collected 18 kills of the own and hit .250 during the opening frame.
UW-Eau Claire went on to hit .406 in the second set and .321 during the third frame to claim a 2-1 advantage in sets.
UW-Oshkosh then won a thrilling fourth set, erasing a 21-18 deficit along the way to knotting the score at 21, 22 and 23. The Titans fought off match-points at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25 and achieved a set-point of their own at 27-26 following a Sundholm kill and Pearson solo block on back-to-back points. After UW-Eau Claire tied the set at 27, UW-Oshkosh sent the match to a fifth frame after a Blugold attack error followed by another Sundholm kill.
UW-Eau Claire, which upped its record to 5-1 in five-set matches this season, never trailed during the final frame, building cushions of 5-2 and 11-4 on the way to outhitting the Titans, .368 to .048, in Set 5.
UW-Oshkosh is seeking to play in the Division III Championship for the 18th time and first since 2016.