OSHKOSH, Wis.- For the first time since 1986, a WIAC program won the conference's regular season championship outright for the third consecutive year. UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball completed the three-peat and won the 16th in program history with a 3-1 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Friday (Nov. 7). The win also marked the 200th in head coach Jon Ellmann's career.
 
The Titans became just the fourth team in conference history to earn sole possession of the regular season title in three straight seasons. UW-La Crosse was the most recent to accomplish the feat between 1984 and 1986. Former league members and current NCAA Division I programs Wisconsin and Milwaukee won three consecutive outright trophies from 1976-78 and 1981-83, respectively.
 
The No. 5 nationally ranked Titans (26-3, 7-0 WIAC) took down No. 3 UW-Eau Claire (26-3, 6-1 WIAC) by set scores of 25-12, 25-18, 18-25, 25-15. Oshkosh is now 5-0 against Eau Claire since 2022, taking 15 sets to the Blugolds' five.
 
The Titans hit .370 in the match, including a .538 mark in the second set, to the Blugolds' .171. Oshkosh racked up 54 kills to go along with five service aces, 10 team blocks, 51 assists, and 77 digs.
 
Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) led the way for Oshkosh with 18 kills, 19 digs, two aces, as well as two blocks. She registered a .714 hitting percentage in the first set and went .600 in the second before finishing the match at .485. Lauren Grier (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) was also big in the Titans' win, tallying 10 kills and five blocks (one solo). Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) set a career high in blocks with two to go with nine kills and 14 digs.
 
Oshkosh jumped out to an early lead in the first set by scoring eight of the first 10 points. The Titans extended their lead with a 5-3 run to put the score 13-5. Eau Claire pushed back with a 3-1 run, cutting Oshkosh's lead to six points with the score at 17-11 before Oshkosh scored seven straight points and Clare McEniry (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) sealed the first set victory with a kill.
 
Eau Claire took a 4-1 edge in the second set for their first lead of the match. Oshkosh tied up the set at 4-4 with a kill from Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union), an ace from Jaclyn Dutkiewicz (Franklin/Franklin), and a kill from Perlberg. The Blugolds eventually earned the upper hand at 6-7 after a few traded serves. The Titans responded with a 6-3 run, taking a 12-10 lead. Eau Claire then tied the set at 13-13 with a 3-1 run and the back-and-forth continued when the Titans tallying five straight with two Grier kills and a McEniry kill. Eau Claire produced a 4-2 run to the Titans' lead to 20-17, however Oshkosh closed out the set with four consecutive points and a set-winning kill by Perlberg.
 
UW-Oshkosh started the third set with a 5-2 lead and stretched it to 8-4 before Eau Claire responded with a 7-2 streak to claim a 10-11 edge. The teams went back and forth, tying the set at 14-14 which led to a 10-2 Eau Claire run to make the score 24-16. Oshkosh scored two more points before dropping the set.
 
UW-Oshkosh started set four with two spurts of two points that included two kills from Juergens and one from Grier and led 9-5 after Grier and McEniry combined for a block. The Titans grew their lead by counting up small runs and holding Eau Claire to a point at time throughout the set. Juergens delivered the match's final point with a kill that a Blugold deflected out of bounds.
 
The top seed in the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's), the Titans will host the lowest remaining seed at Kolf Sports Center on Thursday, November 13 in one of the two semifinal matches at a time to be determined.