EAU CLAIRE, Wis.- The
top-ranked UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven matches Friday (Oct. 9), opening the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Alumni Weekend Invitational with a four-set victory over UW-Superior inside the Sonnentag Event Center. The Titans took the opening set, 25-11, before dropping the second, 22-25, and responding with 25-17 and 25-19 victories to improve to 18-1 on the season.
Oshkosh finished the afternoon with 59 kills on 146 attacks, hitting .253 while holding UW-Superior to 39 kills and a .144 hitting percentage. The Titans also recorded nine service aces, six total blocks and 57 digs while limiting the Yellowjackets to just one service ace.
Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) led the Titan attack with a match-high 18 kills on 41 swings, hitting .341 while adding seven digs and a service ace.
Lauren Grier (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) continued her efficient play at the net, putting down 13 kills with just two errors on 22 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage. Grier also contributed four block assists.
Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) recorded her seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 12 kills and 10 digs while adding a service ace.
Riley Borrowman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) turned in another efficient performance with seven kills on 15 swings for a .400 hitting percentage, while
Emmy Wizceb (Sullivan/Johnsburg (Ill.)) added seven kills and hit .357.
Alex Hopp (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) directed the offense with 26 assists and a career-high 13 digs for her first double-double of the season. Hopp also served a match-high three aces.
Leah Carlson (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) added 24 assists, while
Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) anchored the defense with 12 digs and two service aces.
Ava Van Camp (Kimberly/Kimberly) also contributed two aces.
The Titans wasted little time establishing control in the opening set, producing 15 kills with just one attack error on 34 swings for a .412 hitting percentage. Perlberg and Grier helped lead the offensive attack, while Borrowman and Wizceb contributed to a balanced effort at the net. Oshkosh held UW-Superior to eight kills and a .080 hitting percentage, taking the opening frame, 25-11.
UW-Superior responded in a tightly contested second set that featured 12 ties and four lead changes. The Yellowjackets held Oshkosh to a .023 hitting percentage as the Titans committed 12 attack errors against 13 kills. UW-Superior countered with 11 kills and a .176 hitting percentage, eventually pulling away for a 25-22 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
Oshkosh answered with its most efficient offensive set of the afternoon in the third. Perlberg, Grier and Juergens helped pace a Titan attack that put down 18 kills with just four errors on 32 swings for a .438 hitting percentage. The Titans held UW-Superior to 10 kills and a .207 clip, taking the frame, 25-17, to regain the advantage and move within one set of the victory.
The Titans continued to apply pressure in the fourth, recording 13 kills while hitting .222. Grier completed her impressive offensive performance with 13 kills on a .500 clip, while Perlberg finished with a match-high 18 kills. Oshkosh's defense limited the Yellowjackets to 10 kills and forced six attack errors, holding UW-Superior to a .108 hitting percentage. The Titans secured the final set, 25-19, to complete the four-set victory and extend their winning streak to seven.
Oshkosh will return to the court Saturday (Oct. 10) for day two of the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Alumni Weekend Invitational. The Titans will face (RV) Hope College (Mich.) and (RV) Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), beginning at noon.
