The UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball set the new school record for best start in a season at 30-0 Oct. 31, with a 3-0 win over Alverno College on a night where seniors Amelia Hust, Kalli Mau, Riley Kindt and Maddy Pearson were honored for senior night.
The No. 2 nationally ranked Titans were able to down the Inferno with set scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-8.
It was an easy night for the Titans as in set one, a 12-1 run by the Titans was all they needed to cruise to their first win. Set two was also easy, as UWO also won that one handily.
Set three started back and forth; however, the Titans led by an 8-7 score. The Titans ended the set on a 17-1 run to win the match and break the record.
Three players set personal accomplishments, which helped the Titans break the record. Hust hit into the 1,000 digs club in the Sept. 15 match versus Transylvania University (Kentucky), while Kindt joined the 1,000 kills club and Mau joined the 2,000 assists club in the match on Oct. 20 versus North Park University (Illinois). Hust credits the team on why she was able to accomplish her goal.
“My team made it super special and really came around me to make me feel so good,” she said. “Because of them I was able to reach it.”
In her first year of being on the team, freshman Sami Perlberg acknowledged the mindset of the team on why they are here as the record holders.
“A lot of it is team chemistry,” she said. “Everyone trusts everyone — we don’t get mad when others make mistakes. We just take it day by day and focus on one play at a time.”
On the way to setting the record, the Titans have defeated seven teams in the current American Coaches Volleyball Association poll. Most notable was the match on Sept. 20, when the Titans beat the then No. 7 UW-Whitewater Warhawks for the first time since 2015. It was a win that not only helped UWO set this record, but also clinched at least a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season conference title.
On Oct. 25, UWO tied the best start in program history with a sweep of UW-Platteville at the Kolf Sports Center with set scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-22.
Robyn Kirsch led the team with 10 kills. Izzy Coon and Mau were the team leaders in assists at 22 and 13, respectively. Perlberg and Abby Fregien led the team in digs with nine and eight, respectively.
In the first set, Oshkosh jumped out to a 4-1 lead behind three kills from Perlberg. The Pioneers, however, made it a little tough as they had an a
nswer for every Titan run. In the end, the Titans never gave up the lead as they claimed the set one win.
The second set was all Titans as Oshkosh jumped out to a 7-1 lead to start the set, helped by five Pioneer attack errors. The Titans handled a big rally as Platteville cut the Oshkosh lead down to 14-13 before responding with a 6-1 run with three combined kills from Kirsch and Kindt. The Titans finished the set win in dominating fashion.
Oshkosh trailed for the first time during the match as Platteville scored the first point of set three. The Pioneers did not lead for long, however. After the teams traded punches to start the set, Oshkosh scored five-straight points for a 10-5 lead. After that, Oshkosh never relinquished the lead as it was able to close out the set and the match.
The Titans will return to action on Friday, traveling to UW-La Crosse and looking to clinch the outright WIAC Conference Title. Even though UWL is last in the WIAC standings, the Titans are making sure to avoid a major letdown. Hust said that the team will work just the same as they have all season and won’t share honors.
“We keep saying that we don’t share well, so we’re gonna keep it simple and do our job,” Hust said. The match against the Eagles will start at 7 p.m.
