Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team took down two top-15 teams on the second day of the Marty Petersen Invitational on Saturday (September 6), extending its season-opening winning streak to nine matches.
 
The sixth-ranked Titans defeated both No. 5 Emory University (Ga.) (5-1) and No. 14 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) (3-3) three sets to one.
 
In game one against Emory, UW-Oshkosh won set one 25-17 and took a 2-0 lead after winning set two, 25-22. The Eagles took set three, 25-17, and Oshkosh put away Emory, 25-18, to improve to 8-0 on the year.
 
Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) was all over the court against the Eagles, recording 18 kills while hitting .267, digging 13 attacks, and serving up three aces. Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) also had a solid match, posting a 16-kill (.302), 18-dig double-double. Izzy Coon (Fond du Lac/St. Mary's Springs Academy) recorded her second straight 40-assist match with 44 and Hannah Moe (Oconto/Oconto) blocked six attacks. Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) (17) and Malia Winchel (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) (14) also reached double-digit digs.
 
The Eagles jumped out to an early lead in the first set with the first three points and the teams traded 3-point runs to stay close until a 5-0 spurt for Emory made the score 14-10. Oshkosh kept up with the trend and responded with five points of their own started by a Juergens kill. Riley Borrowman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) broke a 16-16 tie with a kill, and the Titans added a Perlberg kill and a Lauren Grier (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) block to extend their edge. After a kill by the Eagles, Perlberg recorded a kill for four of the next six points and was one of two Titans to block a shot for the fifth. Grier, who was the other half of the block, finished the set with a kill.
 
Emory again claimed an early edge in set two and held onto it until a 4-0 run flipped the lead to Oshkosh's favor at 12-11. The Eagles threatened the edge, tying the set five times down the stretch until three straight points put Oshkosh a set away from the win.
 
A pair of 3-point spurts put the Titans up 6-2 the start the third set, however Emory chipped away at the lead with quick two-point runs before taking the lead with four points at 18-14. Oshkosh scored three more times in the set and were kept off the board on the last five serves.
 
Winchel kicked off the fourth set with an ace and Perlberg followed with a pair of kills to set the tone of the fourth set. Coon saw an opportunity to skip the set and put the ball over the net into the back corner of the court to start a 7-0 run for UW-Oshkosh that eventually turned into a 12-4 edge. After the teams largely traded the next eight points, the Titans went 3-0 to go up 18-9. However, the Eagles didn't lie down, sticking around until committing an attack error for Oshkosh's 25th point.
 
 
In the final match of the Marty Petersen Invitational, it was a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship Quarterfinal matchup between UW-Oshkosh and the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas. The Athenas prevailed over the Titans in 2023 at their home facility and the Titans earned their 3-1 victory at Kolf on Saturday.
 
In set one the Titans won, 26-24. Set two was close and the Athenas were victorious, winning 25-22 to tie the match at one a piece. UW-Oshkosh then responded by taking set three from CMS, 25-23, to go up 2-1. In the final set of the match, the Titans overcame a 7-0 deficit and took down the Athenas, 25-23, to move to 9-0 on the year.
 
Juergens had herself another great match, posting 24 kills (.315), and 16 digs. 10 of Juergens' kills came in just the first set. Perlberg followed up her first performance with 17 kills (.156), and 14 digs in the second. Coon notched 37 assists, Panasuk had 25 digs and three aces, and Wizceb had five blocks.
 
Each short run of the first set was responded to and neither team could build a sizable lead. The longest run was four points for the Athenas and Oshkosh wiped it away with two Juergens kills and a Panasuk ace before a CMS service error gave the Titans the serve. The Athenas committed an unforced attack error for set point and Perlberg put Oshkosh up after the first set with another kill.
 
The teams continued to show why they are so highly ranked with a similar performance in the second set. The Athenas scored four points, and the Titans cut the lead to a point at 9-8 and went 5-1 to reach set point before Oshkosh scored four straight to bring the score to 24-22. A kill for CMS however tied the set score at 1-1.
 
Oshkosh and CMS knotted the score six straight times between 4-4 and 9-9 and again at 11-11 before two blocks and a Wizceb kill made the score 14-11 in Oshkosh's favor. The Athenas went on yet another 4-0 tear to reclaim the lead which the Titans responded to with three points of their own – a kill for Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union), a Panasuk ace, and a Juergens kill. CMS reached a 22-20 lead before scoring just once more against two Oshkosh kills, two unforced errors, and a set-winning block for Moe and Wizceb.
 
Immediately down 7-0 to start the fourth set, UW-Oshkosh found itself in a larger deficit than normal and responded like fans are accustomed to with 10-2 run, taking the lead on a kill by Motz and extending it when Jaclyn Dutkiewicz (Franklin/Franklin) served up an ace. The Titans slowly built a lead with 3-point runs and broke a 21-all tie to reach set and match point when Motz notched a kill followed by two more from Juergens. The Athenas tacked on two more points, but couldn't get close enough to force extras and Juergens sat down one more kill to cap off the weekend.
 
The Titans are back in action at Kolf Sports Center next weekend (September 12-13), where they will face seventh ranked University of La Verne (Calif.), No. 3 Hope College (Mich.) and No. 22 University of Chicago (Ill.).