MARIETTA, Ohio- The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team began the 2024 NCAA Division III Championship Marietta, Ohio Regional against Marymount University (Va.) and showed why it won the WIAC regular season title by sweeping the Saints, 25-9, 25-17, and 25-10.
 
The No. 7 nationally ranked Titans (27-5) hit .438 on 77 attacks for their second-highest mark of the year while holding the Saints to just .024. They also led 50-18 in kills, 45-16 in assists, 6-1 in assists, 46-30 in digs, and 8-2 in blocks.
 
Riley Kindt (Fifth • Brookfield) and Sami Perlberg (So. • Chippewa Falls) both hit .381 on 21 attacks in the match; Kindt recorded 12 kills while Perlberg notched 11. UW-Oshkosh's top setter was Izzy Coon (Jr. • Fond du Lac) at 20 assists and Malia Winchel (So. • Oak Creek) scored four points from the service line. Coon and Kindt each added a service ace. Four Titans blocked multiple attacks, led by Lauren Grier (So. • Fond du Lac) with four.
 
Marymount scored the first point of the set before UW-Oshkosh counted off five consecutive on a block by Robyn Kirsch (Sr. • Wausau) and Grier, kills by Kindt and Kirsch, and attack errors by the Saints. The Titans late extended their lead to 14-3 on a 7-0 spurt that included five kills and reached 20 points with a 4-point run. Kirsch, Kindt and Perlberg recorded back-to-back-to-back kills for the final three points of the set.
 
After a close start to the second set, Kirsch kicked off a 5-point run for UW-Oshkosh, making the score 8-2. The Saints reduced the deficit to four points at 12-8 before Kirsch hit a kill followed by a Kindt kill and a Kirsch/Kindt block and a solo Perlberg block. Marymount was held to one spurt of three points while the Titans slowly extended their edge. Grier and Kalli Mau (Fifth • Kimberly) brought the score to set point with kills and Winchel's ace put UW-Oshkosh up two sets to none.
 
UW-Oshkosh recorded seven of the first eight points of set three, furthering the deficit with runs of five and three points. The Titans led 22-7 before the Saints tallied two straight points for the first time since the second set. Marymount was held to just one more point for the rest of the match with Olivia Breunig (Sr. • Sauk Prairie) and Joslyn Wolff (Sr. • Reeseville) notching kills for the final two points.
 
The Titans will face No. 20 University of Chicago (Ill.) (25-10) on Friday (Nov. 21) at 4:30 p.m. eastern time in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship. The Titans and Maroons faced earlier this season in a neutral site match in Stevens Point. The Titans won in three sets (25-23, 25-14, 25-16).