OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team moved to 3-1 in WIAC competition with a 3-1 victory over UW-Stout at Kolf Sports Center on Friday night (Oct. 4).
 
The match was the first of a split day triangular with Carroll University coming to town on Saturday (Oct. 5) to face the Blue Devils and Titans at 10 a.m. and noon respectively.
 
Oshkosh (15-4, 3-1 WIAC) dropped the first set to Stout (8-6, 1-2 WIAC) by a score of 25-16 before winning the following three 25-15, 25-13 and 25-16.
 
The Blue Devils led 13 blocks to nine while the Titans held the edge in kills (56 to 35), aces (14 to three), assists (51 to 31) and digs (78 to 72).
 
Sami Perlberg (So. • Chippewa Falls) recorded 15 kills, hitting .265 on 34 attempts with 16 digs. Riley Kindt (Fifth • Brookfield) and Olivia Breunig (Sr. • Sauk Prairie) followed with 13 and 10 kills, hitting .345 and .346 respectively.
 
The Titans' top passer of the night was Kalli Mau (Fifth • Kimberly) at 27, while Kindt blocked four attacks and Abby Fregien (Sr. • Waukesha) dug 25. Malia Winchel (So. • Oak Creek) tallied five aces, Fregien counted four and Izzy Coon (Jr. • Fond du Lac) had three points from the service line.
 
Oshkosh's early 5-1 lead in the first set evaporated as the Blue Devils scored six straight points to tie it at 8-8. Stout took the edge with a 3-0 run and extended it to four points with another before recording the final five points on three kills, an ace and an Oshkosh error.
 
UW-Stout took its turn in the driver's seat early in set two, outscoring UW-Oshkosh 4-2. A Blue Devil service error gave Oshkosh control, which it used to tally five more points, making the score 13-6. Robyn Kirsch (Sr. • Wausau) and Breunig recorded kills in a later 4-point run, while Lauren Grier (So. • Fond du Lac) and Perlberg were joined by a Winchel ace in another. Stout scored on four consecutive match points, pulling within nine points before Breunig ended the set on a kill.
 
In set three, the teams traded leads through an 11-11 tie. Grier's kill kicked off a 7-0 spurt that included two Breunig kills, two Perlberg kills, another Winchel ace and an unforced Blue Devil error. After Stout scored to make the score 18-12, Oshkosh scored another five straight points and went up two sets to one with a Perlberg kill and a Coon ace.
 
Neither team scored more than twice in a row in the fourth set until Kirsch broke an 8-8 stalemate with a kill that Winchel followed with two consecutive aces. The Titans extended their lead on two 4-0 runs and won the set and match with Perlberg's 15th kill.