OSHKOSH, Wis.- It took all five sets, but UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball won its fifth WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) championship on Saturday night (Nov. 15) by defeating UW-Eau Claire in the title match.
 
The Titans, ranked fourth in NCAA Division III in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's most recent poll, have played in the most recent three tournament championships and have appeared in 10 overall, but have not won the match since beating Eau Claire, currently ranked  fifth, in five sets in 2008.
 
Oshkosh dropped the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-21 before pulling off the first reverse sweep in the WIAC championship since 1998, 25-21, 26-24, 15-13.
 
Both teams hit below average in the contest. The Titans attacked at a .216 clip with 68 kills and 25 errors on 199 total attacks while the Blugolds recorded a .231 with 71 kills and 23 errors on 208 total attacks.
 
Eau Claire led 71-68 in kills, 7-1 in service aces, and 69-66 in assists while Oshkosh blocked 11 attacks to eight and dug 101 balls against 97.
 
In a match that included five total double-doubles, Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) hit .283 with 21 kills and 17 digs, Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) put up 18s in both kills and digs, and Jaclyn Dutkiewicz (Franklin/Franklin) had 30 assists and 12 digs.
 
Izzy Coon (Fond du Lac/St. Mary's Springs Academy) led the Titans with 31 assists, Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) put up a match-best 27 digs, and Emmy Wizceb (Sullivan/Johnsburg (Ill.)) notched five blocks (one solo) with her four kills.
 
The Titans and Blugolds traded the first seven points of the opening set, and the deficit never grew to more than four points until Eau Claire tallying the final four points.
 
Early in the second set, Oshkosh took a 4-2 lead before Eau Claire went on a 7-1 run. The Titans closed the gap to a point when a service error gave them the lead and Perlberg hit back-to-back kills to make the score 11-10. They kept the score close for a few serves, but a 6-1 spurt created a five-point deficit Oshkosh couldn't overcome. Another Blugold kill sent the match into the third set with a 2-0 lead in Eau Claire's favor.
 
Oshkosh responded to an early hole with four consecutive points in the third set. Wizceb had a hand in each point, pairing with Juergens for a block, tallying two kills, and pairing with Perlberg for another block. The Blugolds claimed a pair of one-point leads before Perlberg broke a 20-20 tie with a kill and the Titans went 4-1 to win their first set.
 
The Titans scored four of the first five points of the fourth set and fought off a tied score by going 4-2 over the next six serves. Oshkosh added a 5-1 run to lead 17-14 before the Blugolds knotted the score at 21, 22 and 24 points Wizceb and Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union) recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set score at two apiece.

Eau Claire jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the fifth set; however the edge did not last long as Oshkosh immediately recorded a three-point streak to flip the lead. The Titans extended their lead with two Perlberg kills and an unforced error through their ninth point and added two 2-0 runs to retain a small edge. After the Blugolds made the score 14-13 with a pair of kills, Motz registered the Titans' 68th kill of the match, finishing the set and match.
 
The Titans, holders of the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, will find out where they will begin their 21st national postseason on Monday at noon when the selection show airs on NCAA.com.