RIVER FALLS, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball defeated UW-River Falls in sweeping fashion at the Falcons' Don Page Arena on Friday night (Oct. 3), earning its fifth consecutive win over the conference foe and winning by set score of 3-0 for the second year in a row.
 
The 3-0 victory was the 13th for the Titans (17-2, 3-0 WIAC) this season and the fourth straight. The 13 sweeps are the most in the division so far this season. Oshkosh won the sets by scores of 25-16, 25-17, 25-23.
 
The third-ranked team in NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, UW-Oshkosh recorded 40 kills and 13 errors on 102 total attacks for a .265 hitting percentage, the 15th match this season it hit at least .200. While the Falcons (9-10, 0-3 WIAC), who hit just .076, paced the Titans, 7-3, in service aces, Oshkosh led in kills (40-32), blocks (9-7), assists (40-29) and digs (57-45).
 
For the 11th time this season and for the fifth-straight match, Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) reached double-digit kills with 12 against just one error on 28 attacks (.393). Lauren Grier (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) and Clare McEniry (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) followed with seven kills apiece.
 
Leading the Titans in assists was Jaclyn Dutkiewicz (Franklin/Franklin) with 18. Izzy Coon (Fond du Lac/St. Mary's Springs Academy) followed with 16.
 
Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) recorded team bests of 17 digs and two service aces. Dutkiewicz and Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) registered second-highest marks of 10 digs.
 
River Falls broke ahead for its first lead of the night with three points early in the first set for a 5-4 edge. The Titans reclaimed the lead on a 3-0 run that included kills by Perlberg and McEniry. Later in the set, the Falcons tied the score at 7-7 and 12-12 before being held to four nonconsecutive points for the remainder. Juergens started a 6-point spurt at the tail end of the first set with a kill. Perlberg, Riley Borrowman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) and Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union) added kills in the set while River Falls committed a pair of unforced errors that led to a 1-0 set lead.
 
Following five traded points to start the second set, UW-Oshkosh tallied four points to take a 6-3 lead before the Falcons tied the score with three points of their own. The Titans increased the deficit with a 6-1 and never allowed UW-River Falls within three points again. Building a larger lead with another 3-point run, Grier finished the second set with a kill.
 
The Falcons came back from a 6-4 deficit in the third set by notching five consecutive points to create a 9-6 lead, their largest of the night. UW-Oshkosh slowly chipped away at the gap, eventually tying the score at 14-14 when Grier recorded her fifth kill of the match. Two blocks, a Grier kill and a Juergens kill handed the Titans a solid lead which they added to with another 5-0 run. Not to be discounted, River Falls outscored Oshkosh 6-1 in the next seven serves to make the score 24-23, however Juergens rounded out the night by tallying another kill.
 
The Titans will remain in River Falls on Friday night and Macalester College (Minn.) (3-12, 0-3 MIAC) and the College of Saint Bendict (Minn.) (10-3, 2-1 MIAC) in Saturday's (Oct. 4) quadrangular at Don Page Arena.