KENOSHA, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball defeated Carthage College and Edgewood University it the Firebirds' Tarble Arena on Tuesday (Sept. 30), both by 3-0 sweep.
 
The No. 3 nationally ranked Titans (16-2, 2-0 WIAC) won 25-18, 27-25, 25-19 in their first match of the night against the Firebirds (10-5, 1-1 CCIW), who are receiving votes in this week's poll, and beat the Eagles (9-5, 2-0 NACC) 25-21, 27-25, 25-18.
 
UW-Oshkosh recorded a .257 hitting percentage against Carthage's .198 with 43 kills on 113 total attacks with 14 errors. The Titans paced the Firebirds in service aces (10-5), blocks (6-4) and assists (41-36) while Carthage recorded 49 digs to Oshkosh's 48.
 
Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) led UW-Oshkosh with 12 kills on a .290 hitting percentage and four service aces. Izzy Coon (Fond du Lac/St. Mary's Springs Academy) and Jacyln Dutkiewicz both reached double-digit assists with 20 and 14 while Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) and Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) notched 14 and 10 digs respectively. Riley Borrowman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) paced the Titans with 1.5 blocks.
 
The Titans separated themselves from Carthage in the first set with a 4-0 run that made the score 7-4. Another pair of 3-point runs extended their lead to 15-9 before the Firebirds climbed back within two points with a 5-1 spurt. Juergens tallied three kills in a 5-0 run for Oshkosh, joined by kills from Clare McEniry (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) and Borrowman. Following two points by the Firebirds, Borrowman recorded her fourth kill of the set to put UW-Oshkosh up, 1-0, in sets.
 
After the teams each scored three points on the first six serves of the second set, the Titans notched three points for a small early edge. Carthage endured a 3-0 Oshkosh run by responding with one of its own and stayed close, eventually taking a 24-23 lead after four straight points. Grier and Perlberg combined for a block to tie the set at 24-24, forcing extra points and the Titans fought back from a Firebird set point with an unforced error by Carthage, a McEniry/Borrowman block and a McEniry kill.
 
Grier started a 6-point run in the third set for UW-Oshkosh with a kill, followed by two Perlberg kills, a Dutkiewicz service ace, a McEniry kill, and another kill by Grier to put Oshkosh up, 7-1. UW-Oshkosh held Carthage to just one 4-0 spurt for the remainder of the set while scoring in runs of three and four points to lead by as much as 19-9. Perlberg completed the sweep with a kill.
 
UW-Oshkosh hit .227 in their second set with 47 kills on 132 total attacks with 17 errors. Edgewood hit just .132 in the match with 19 errors against 36 kills on 129 attacks. The Eagles recorded seven service aces to Oshkosh's three while the Titans led 47-36 in kills, 12-9 in blocks, 46-34 in assists and 63-58 in digs.
 
Juergens was again UW-Oshkosh's kills leader with 15 successful attacks on a .333 hitting percentage and added 13 digs. Perlberg followed closely behind with 14 kills and 16 digs. Coon recorded a team-high 21 assists and Dutkiewicz recorded 17 while putting up two service aces. Panasuk was the third Titan to surpass 10 digs with 12 and Grier paced Oshkosh with 4.5 blocks including three solo.
 
Edgewood jumped out to an early lead in the first set extending its lead with a 3-0 run and fought off Oshkosh before adding another four straight points to reach a 14-10 lead. The Titans grabbed the lead with five points that included two blocks and two kills, then again took the edge on a 4-0 run. After the Eagles got within a point at 22-21, Juergens recorded a kill, Borrowman and Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union) blocked an attack and Perlberg notched another kill to win the set.
 
The Eagles erased an early deficit and tied the score at 8-8, 9-9 and 11-11 before grabbing a 15-12 edge with four straight points. The Titans flipped the script when Motz notched a kill, followed by one by Perlberg and another Borrowman/Motz block to make the score 20-19. The teams tied at 24-24 and 25-25, however Juergens hit a pair of kills to help UW-Oshkosh win the set.
 
UW-Oshkosh scored the first three points of the third set with a block, an unforced error and a Grier kill and never looked back. They furthered their lead two 3-point runs, but each time, the Eagles would close the gap to keep the score close. All-kill runs of four and three points brought the score to set and match point, which Perlberg earned with her 14th kill of the match after an Edgewood point.
 
The Titans will face UW-River Falls (9-9, 0-2 WIAC) on Friday (Oct. 3) at 7 p.m. before playing Macalester College (Minn.) (3-11, 0-2 MIAC) and the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.) (9-3, 1-1 MIAC) at the Falcons' Don Page Arena on Saturday (Oct. 4).