Box Score Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team earned third-place at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship presented by Culver's with a 3-1 victory (25-22, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24) over UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon in Kolf Sports Center. The Eagles improve to 20-9 on the season while the Titans, ranked 18th on this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, fall to 26-9.
It marks UWL's first 20-win season since 2008 when the Eagles went 28-12.
UWL will await word if its earned an at-large bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. The selections will be announced Monday, November 9 at 10 a.m. (Central). The Eagles last advanced to the NCAA III Championships in 2008, falling in the regional round to Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.). UWL has made 12 appearances in the national tournament in school history.
UWL raced out to a 8-3 lead in the opening set Saturday and later led 18-11 when UW-Oshkosh scored four straight points to cut the lead to 18-15. The Eagles scored four of the next five points to lead 22-16 and the Titans could get no closer than the final margin of three.
The Titans led 6-3 in the second set before the Eagles went on a 6-2 run to lead 9-8. After UW-Oshkosh scored the next two points to take a 10-9 advantage, UWL took the next three points to lead 12-10 and never trailed again. UW-Oshkosh cut the lead to 17-15 before UWL scored six of the next seven points to lead 23-16.
UWL scored the first three points of the third set before UW-Oshkosh took eight of the next 10 to lead 8-5. The Eagles later trailed 16-14, but could get no closer.
The fourth set featured several scoring runs early as UWL took four of the first five points before UW-Oshkosh scored six of the next seven to lead 7-5. The set was tied 14-14 when UW-Oshkosh scored three consecutive points, but UWL responded with a pair of points to cut the lead to 17-16. The Titans led 22-20, but the Eagles took a 23-20 advantage. It was tied 24-24 before UWL scored the final two points to win the set.
Stephanie Henk led UWL with 18 kills Saturday while
Jill Entinger and
Leah Putzier each finished with 12. Henk hit .293 (18-6-41) in the match.
Jaclyn Barrette recorded 53 assists as the Eagles hit .189 (59-29-159).
Danica Johnson had a match-high 24 digs while Barrette and
Paige Schmidt each finished with 12. UWL had 9.5 team blocks with Entinger recording six block assists.
Nerissa Vogt led UW-Oshkosh with 10 kills while Brianna Witter had nine. Lexi Thiel recorded 36 assists as the Titans hit .127 (41-21-157).
Thiel and Rachel Smith each had nine digs. UW-Oshkosh registered 11.0 blocks with Vogt and Witter each finishing with five block assists.
