OSHKOSH, Wis.- The 2024 Marty Petersen Invitational kicked off at Kolf Sports Center on Friday (Sept. 6) with four matches, capped off by a 3-0 win for UW-Oshkosh volleyball over Whitworth University (Wash.).
 
The Titans (6-1) defeated the Pirates (4-1) by scores of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-18, never trailing by more than two points before the 10th point was scored.
 
UW-Oshkosh totaled 43 kills, hitting .219 as a team, with 43 assists, six blocks, 56 digs and four aces. Sami Perlberg (So. • Chippewa Falls) recorded 13 kills (.281), 14 digs, two blocks and an ace. Kalli Mau (Fifth • Kimberly) led the team with 24 digs, Abby Fregien (Sr. • Waukesha) had 18 digs and Malia Winchel (So. • Oak Creek) served three aces.
 
Oshkosh jumped out to an early lead in the first set by stringing together six points with a pair of kills from both Perlberg and Riley Kindt (Fifth • Brookfield). Another 6-point spurt made the score 15-3. Lauren Grier (So. • Fond du Lac) gave the Titans a 13-point edge until four Whitworth point cut the deficit to 18-9. Three Titan points brought them past the 20-point mark and the set was won by an Izzy Coon (Jr. • Fond du Lac) kill and a Perlberg ace.
 
Whitworth took its turn in the lead early in set two, scoring on a kill and an ace before Oshkosh went 4-0 with kills from Hannah Moe (Jr. • Oconto) and Perlberg. The Pirates reclaimed an edge at 11-10 after scoring four straight, however it was short-lived because the Titans went on a 9-point tear that Moe started with another kill. During the run, Perlberg added two kills, Moe hit another and Winchel tallied a pair of aces. A 6-2 Whitworth streak cut the deficit to four points at 22-18. Perlberg, Kindt and Robyn Kirsch (Sr. • Wausau) closed out the set by sandwiching two Pirate points with kills.
 
The Pirates scored the first point of the third set, but Oshkosh notched four points from Kirsch, Grier and Perlberg kills with an attack error by Whitworth. Whitworth took the lead once more in the set at 7-6 before the Titans responded to with a 7-1 run to make the score 13-8. UW-Oshkosh slowly extended its lead to eight points until the Pirates pulled it within four points on a 4-point run, however they managed just one more point and two kills from Olivia Breunig (Sr. • Sauk Prairie) and one from Kirsch ended the match.
 
The Titans will face North Central College (Ill.) and Aurora University (Ill.) on Saturday (Sept. 7) at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The Cardinals fell to Whitworth 3-2 on Friday night in Oshkosh.