OSHKOSH, Wis.- The
top-ranked UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team remained unbeaten Saturday, earning a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Cornell College (Iowa) in the UW-Oshkosh Marty Petersen Invitational at Kolf Sports Center. The Titans won the first two sets in extra points, 30-28 and 26-24, before Cornell responded with a 25-23 win in the third. UW-Oshkosh closed out the match with a 25-19 victory in the fourth to improve to 7-0 on the season.
UW-Oshkosh finished the afternoon with 60 kills on 168 attacks while hitting .190. The Titans recorded 64 digs and held a 10-8 advantage in total blocks. Cornell finished with 52 kills and hit .199 as the match featured 30 ties and 14 lead changes.
Grace Juergens (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Community) led the Titan attack with a match-high 18 kills on a .265 hitting percentage and added 13 digs for a double-double.
Samantha Perlberg (Chippewa Falls/Chippewa Falls) also notched a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, while
Lauren Grier (Fond du Lac/Fond du Lac) turned in an efficient performance with 12 kills on 19 attacks for a .526 hitting percentage. Grier also led the Titans at the net with five total blocks, including four solo blocks.
Emmy Wizceb (Sullivan/Johnsburg (Ill.)) added seven kills and two solo blocks, while
Riley Borrowman (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) finished with five kills, four digs and a solo block.
Maren Motz (Hartland/Arrowhead Union) provided a spark with four kills on 11 attacks and three total blocks in two sets of action.
Alex Hopp (Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) directed the offense with a match-high 30 assists and added seven digs.
Leah Carlson (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) contributed 19 assists, while
Callie Panasuk (Oak Creek/Oak Creek) tied Juergens for the team lead with 13 digs.
The opening set set the tone for a tightly contested afternoon, featuring 14 ties and seven lead changes. Cornell hit .361 with 16 kills, but the Titans countered with a set-high 18 kills on a .256 clip. UW-Oshkosh prevailed in the back-and-forth frame, 30-28, to take a 1-0 advantage.
The second set remained close with five ties and two lead changes. UW-Oshkosh recorded 14 kills while hitting .214 and held off Cornell in another extra-point battle, 26-24, to move within one set of the victory.
Cornell refused to go away in the third. The Rams recorded 14 kills and hit .205 while holding the Titans to a .140 hitting percentage. Seven ties and two lead changes highlighted another competitive frame before Cornell pulled out a 25-23 victory to extend the match.
UW-Oshkosh responded in the fourth with 14 kills and held Cornell to its least efficient offensive set of the match. The Titans forced six attack errors and limited the Rams to seven kills and a .031 hitting percentage before taking the frame, 25-19, to secure their seventh consecutive victory to open the season.
The Titans will return to action Tuesday (Sept. 15) when they travel to Madison to face Carthage College and Edgewood University in the Eagles' triangular.
