OSHKOSH, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball kicked off the annual Marty Petersen Invitational with its first win over a nationally ranked opponent and wrapped up Friday's (September 5) pair of matches with a sweep over a local team.
 
The Titans (7-0) ranked sixth in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, defeated No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) (4-1), 3-1, in set scores of 20-25, 25-13, 26-24, 26-24 and Marian University (1-5), 3-0, in scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-10.
 
Multiple UW-Oshkosh players set bests against the Bears. Izzy Coon (Fond du Lac/St. Mary's Springs Academy) blew past her previous career high with 45 assists, Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) bested her old best mark in kills with the match winner, Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) dug a season best 21 attacks, and Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) tied her collegiate high of 18 kills. Perlberg and Malia Winchel (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) both served three aces.
 
The Titans paced WashU with 81.0 points, 67 kills, seven aces, seven blocks, 58 assists, and 87 digs, hitting .261 on 176 total attacks to the Bears' .185 on 157 attacks.
 
WashU broke away from the Titans in the first set with a 4-0 run to lead 11-9 midway through the set and extended its lead to seven points on another four-point run. Clare McEniry (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary) started a spurt of three points for Oshkosh late, however the teams traded points the rest of the way and the Bears became just the second team this season to win a set over the Titans.
 
UW-Oshkosh came back with a vengeance in set two, breaking the lead open with an early 4-0 run followed by five more points to make the score 16-10. The Bears scored their 11th point with a kill before Perlberg started another run with a kill of her own. Winchel recorded two aces in the run while Grier and Perlberg added another kill. The Titans evened the set score at one apiece on a WashU attack error.
 
The Bears started the third set with a one-point edge, but Juergens and Perlberg bookended a 3-0 run with kills to bring the lead back into Oshkosh's favor. The teams traded short runs and small leads until WashU's Anna Freeman brought the Bears to set point with a kill. Greier got the serve back for Oshkosh in the following rally on a kill; Perlberg then served up a pair of aces to knot the score at 24-24 before she and Juergens put the Titans up two sets to one on back-to-back kills.
 
Four straight points before the 10-point mark handed Oshkosh a lead, however the lead changed multiple times and neither team scored more than three points down the stretch. Perlberg tied the set with her 25th kill at 24-24 again and followed it up with two more in a row to surpass her previous career best and help Oshkosh beat the Bears.
 
UW-Oshkosh extended its current winning streak over Marian to 11 matches dating back to the 2000 season with a three-set victory in the nightcap. During the streak, the Titans have dropped just two matches to the Sabres.
 
Lauren Grier (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) recorded 10 kills and five blocks in the match against Marian, both team bests. Coon again led Oshkosh in assists at 20, Panasuk notched a team best 13 digs, and Ava Van Camp (Kimberly/Kimberly) registered a trio of aces.
 
Marian followed Oshkosh's three match-opening points with five of its own to start the first set. The Titans however tacked three more points on the board after a Sabre service error before adding five more points shortly later to make the score 14-7. The Sabres went 4-0 once more in the set, however UW-Oshkosh slowly built up its lead to eventually win on back-to-back kills by first-time starter Huston Samoy (St. Louis Park, Minn./St. Louis Park).
 
The Titans again scored first in the second set, scoring four points this time, tallying additional runs of three and four points to lead 13-6 when Van Camp notched her third ace. With a comfortable lead, the Titans were able to score in short spurts while holding Marian to just one run of three points, once again winning a set with a kill by Juergens.
 
A Sabre server put up an error early in the third and final set to give the Titans the ball. An attack error, a block, and two kills brought the score to 9-4 before a 3-0 run and a 5-0 streak increased Oshkosh's edge to 18-8. Marian tallied points twice more in the set before Hannah Moe (Oconto/Oconto) scored the 21st point with a kill. Perlberg followed a Sabre attack error with a kill, Jaclyn Dutkiewicz (Franklin/Franklin) served up an ace, and Grier recorded Oshkosh's final kill of the night to sew up the program's fifth sweep of the year.
 
The Titans will wrap up the Marty Petersen Invitational on Saturday (September 6), facing No. 6 Emory University (Ga.) (4-0) at 10 a.m. and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) (3-1) at 5:30 p.m.