Fourth-seeded UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball hosted fifth-seeded UW-River Falls in the opening round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship tournament Tuesday night as UWRF defeated UWO three sets to one, despite the Titans taking the first set.

UWO was outgained 55-40 in kills and 101-77 in digs during the contest as UWRF took the final three sets of the four that were played.

This is the first time the Titans failed to reach the semifinals of the WIAC Championship since 2013, when the then fifth-seeded Titans were defeated two sets to three by the then-fourth-seeded UW-La Crosse.

Senior Samantha Jaeke led the team with 13 kills and senior Rachel Gardner added 32 digs during the bout.

Additionally, sophomore Emma Kiekhofer led the Titans with 22 assists.

Other Titans contributed kills throughout the game, including junior Shelby Coron with six, and freshmen Rachel Aasby, Brynna Mayer and Carissa Sundholm with five kills each. Sundholm also added 13 digs, second-most on the team.

Unfortunately, the collective efforts weren’t enough to defeat the Falcons on Tuesday night as the team mustered a kill percentage of .044 to UWRF’s .128.

This followed the Titan’s regular season finale which took place last Friday, when UWO was swept zero sets to three by the hosting UW-Eau Claire team.

The loss to UWEC placed UWO fourth in the WIAC standings, qualifying them for the WIAC Championship for the 32nd consecutive year.

During the loss to UWEC, Gardner led the team with 20 digs, and Jaeke led the Titans offense with eight kills.

Both Kiekhofer and junior Rebecca Doughty contributed 14 assists each in the contest, and Sundholm added 11 digs to go along with five kills.

The Titans finished their season with a record of 21 wins to 10 losses and with a conference record of four wins and four losses, with one loss being the postseason defeat by UWRF.