Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team, ranked 13th on this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, earned a 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18) victory over 20th-ranked UW-Oshkosh Thursday night in Mitchell Hall in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships (Presented by Culver's). With the win, UWL advances to the championship match Saturday, November 5 at 5 p.m. at 11th-ranked UW-Whitewater. UWL improved to 22-4 with its win Thursday night while UW-Oshkosh drops to 28-7.
UW-Whitewater advanced to Saturday's title match with a 3-2 (28-26, 23-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-10) victory over UW-Stevens Point Thursday night.
UWL will be making its sixth appearance in the WIAC Championship match and first since 2004. The Eagles are 1-4 all-time in championship matches, capturing the 2003 title with a 3-1 (30-21, 30-17, 30-28) win at UW-River Falls. The Eagles also played in the championship match in 1988, 1992 and 1997. UWL now leads UW-Oshkosh, 8-3, in WIAC Championship meetings. The Eagles earned a 3-1 win over the Titans in the 2015 third-place match.
"Our keys tonight were winning the serve and pass battle," said UWL head coach
Lily Hallock. "Overall, we passed well and that allowed us to run our offense. We also put a lot of pressure on their passers with tough serves, which made them easier to defend."
UWL raced out to a 11-3 lead in the opening set Thursday night and later led 17-7 on a
Paige Schmidt ace. The Titans could get no closer than 24-17 as the Eagles took the opening set, 25-17. "We came out really strong in the first set, which the crowd helped with," said Hallock. "That first set we played the best defense we've played all season."
A
Marisa Johnson kill gave UWL a 13-9 advantage in the second set and the Eagles later led 18-15 on a
Ashley Entinger kill before UW-Oshkosh used a 10-3 run to take the second set, 25-21. Block assists from Samantha Jaeke and Nerissa Vogt gave the Titans the winning point.
The Eagles scored seven of the first nine points in the third set and led 16-10 on a
Stephanie Henk ace. UW-Oshkosh responded 9-2 run to take a 19-18 lead on a Vogt kill. The set was tied four times, including 24-24, when a UW-Oshkosh serving error and
Ashley Entinger kill gave UWL the two-point victory at 26-24.
UW-Oshkosh rallied in the fourth set, leading 8-3 after a Carly Lemke kill, but UWL went on a 8-1 run to take a 11-9 advantage. The set was tied 15-15, but a pair of Titans' attack errors gave the Eagles a 17-15 lead. UW-Oshkosh cut it to 18-17, but UWL scored seven of the last eight points to earn the 25-18 victory. UWL hit .300 (12-3-30) in the fourth set Thursday.
Henk, named the WIAC Offensive Player of the Year Thursday, led UWL with 16 kills while hitting .364 (16-4-33). Johnson and
Jill Entinger each had nine kills while
Ashley Entinger finished with eight.
Madison Entinger recorded 37 assists as the Eagles hit .226 (50-19-137).
Schmidt,
Madison Entinger and
Halle Barnabo each had 12 digs for UWL while Henk recorded a double-double with 11 digs. The Eagles finished with 14.0 total blocks with
Jessica Jablonski recording three block solos and six block assists.
Shannon Herman led UW-Oshkosh with 12 kills while Vogt, Jaeke and Elstner each had nine. Lexi Thiel had 37 assists as the Titans hit .131 (45-26-145). Elstner and Thiel each had 10 digs. The Titans finished with 10.0 blocks, including four block solos and five block assists from Vogt.
UWL returns to action Saturday, November 5 at UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Championship starting at 5 p.m. The winner earns the league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships, which will be announced Monday, November 7 at 11:30 a.m.
"We're going to have to continue to serve tough and make good decision on offense against UW-Whitewater," said Hallock. "They have a great volleyball facility and I'm sure there will be an energetic crowd. We'll have to let that energy fuel us."
