OSHKOSH, Wis.- For the second time in three seasons, UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball opened the NCAA Division III Championship at Kolf Sports Center; and for the second time in three seasons, the Titans swept Greenville University (Ill.) in the first round of the national tournament on Thursday night (Nov. 20).
 
UW-Oshkosh (29-3), ranked third in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and the top seed in the Oshkosh Regional, fended off the eighth-seeded Panthers (24-11), 25-23, in the first set before taking the second and third sets by more comfortable scores of 25-12 and 25-18.
 
The Titans advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship for the 16th time in program history in 20 appearances and reached day two for the second consecutive season.
 
UW-Oshkosh and Greenville both qualified for the championship by winning their respective conference tournaments, earning two of the tournament's 43 automatic bids.
 
UW-Oshkosh won its 21st match by sweep this season while the Panthers were swept for the fourth time.
 
The Titans outhit Greenville, .238 to .119, by recording 44 kills on 126 total attacks with 14 attack errors, including a .333 clip in the second set with a single error. They held additional advantages in service aces (7-2), team blocks (8-2), assists (42-33), and digs (63-56).
 
Greenville tied the first set at 1-1, 3-3, 5-5, and 6-6 before the Titans created a gap with four points in a row that included two kills by Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union) a combination block by Motz and Riley Borrowman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego), and a service ace by Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) to take a 12-7 lead. The Panthers used small runs to keep the score close and tied the score three more times before taking a 19-18 lead with a kill, however Oshkosh went on a 7-4 run to close out the set, punctuated by Juergens' fourth kill.
 
Oshkosh responded to Greenville's pair of set two-opening points with seven straight to force a timeout and never looked back. The Titans allowed the Panthers to add just one more run of four points while scoring in additional streaks of three, five, and four points to win the set.

The lead swapped three times at the start of the third set, and the score was tied five times before Motz broke a 12-12 knotted score with a kill, followed by a kill from Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls). Greenville stuck within a point until Borrowman notched back-to-back kills and an unforced error gave Oshkosh a 19-15 edge. Following five traded points, the Titans tallied the final four points of the match to take the win in the first round of the home regional tournament.
 
Perlberg recorded a match-high 12 digs and added 13 digs for her 17th double-double of the season and her fourth in a row.
 
Izzy Coon (Fond du Lac/St. Mary's Springs Academy) and Jaclyn Dutkiewicz (Franklin/Franklin) led the Titans with 22 and 18 assists, respectively, while Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) dug a match-best 16 attacks.
 
Borrowman recorded four points from the service line to go with her three blocks and Motz blocked five shots at the net, including one solo.
 
The Titans will face No. 25 nationally ranked and fifth-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) (24-7) at 7 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 21). The Gusties advanced to the second round with a 3-1 win over Edgewood University in Thursday's third match. Oshkosh and Gustavus Adolphus have faced each other in each of the previous two seasons. The Gusties won in four sets in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2024 and the Titans earned a sweep in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Championship in Oshkosh.