The UW Oshkosh volleyball team, ranked No. 15 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, opened the 2023 season Sept. 1 with wins over University of Texas at Dallas and Texas Lutheran University at the Trinity University Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.
The Titans swept Texas at Dallas in three sets in their first match of the 2023 season, by scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 15-19. They hit .247, while holding the Comets to .133. UW-Oshkosh’s defense recorded six blocks while forcing Texas-Dallas to commit 19 attack errors.
Freshman Sami Perlberg started her collegiate career with a team-leading 10 kills on 22 attacks. Izzy Coon and Kalli Mau each had double-digit assists, with 20 and 13, respectively. Abby Fregien recorded 13 digs and Robyn Kirsch added three aces.
The first set was very back and forth until the Titans went on a five-point run to break a 16-16 tie. Perlberg recorded two kills and Riley Kindt scored an ace during the run. Both teams scored four points the rest of the way, with Hannah Moe recording a kill to get the ball back for the Titans and Riley Dahlquist blocking an attack to finish off the first set.
In set two, the Comets jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, but the Titans turned it around with a 12-2 run. Kindt hit two kills, and six of the points came from UTD errors. The Comets pulled back within four points with a three-point run to make the score 16-12, but the Titans responded with a three-point run of their own and went 6-4 the rest of the way. UWO finished the set with an impressive .316 hitting percentage and held UTD to a match-low hitting percentage of just .107.
UTD jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the third set before the Titans got back within two. The Comets pulled out even further, responding with a five-point run. The teams largely traded points until a six-point spurt by the Titans tied the set back up at 16-16 with two aces by Coon. After a Comet kill, UWO scored another six-straight points to make the score 22-17. Dahlquist ended the match with a kill from Coon to help the Titans sweep up the Comets.
In the second match of the day, UW-Oshkosh beat Texas Lutheran 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-22). They held the Bulldogs to an even lower hitting percentage at .117 and hit a higher .249 themselves.
Perlberg added 18 more kills in the second match, ending with an impressive 28 on her first day as a Titan. Kindt followed her with 13 kills. Coon and Mau recorded 29 and 28 assists, respectively.
UWO fell behind early in the first set but eventually tied it back up at 10-10. After trading points for a while, TLU scored five straight to make the score 23-18. The Titans scored three more points but dropped the set 25-21.
The Titans pulled out to a 5-3 lead in the second set but fell behind when the Bulldogs scored three straight to make the score 10-7. UWO later went on a 9-2 spurt and took a 17-13 lead. Perlberg recorded three kills during the run. The Bulldogs scored two points to end the run, but three Titans recorded kills to make the score 20-15. A later four-point run brought UWO within a point of winning, which they did after two more TLU points.
In the third set, the Titans took the lead for the final time at 6-5. A four-point run gave UWO a five-point 23-16 lead that was capped off by an Amelia Hust ace. After an attack error by Perlberg, she scored a kill and Coon won the set.
The Titans and Bulldogs stayed within a point of each other until UWO scored three straight to make the score 15-12 in the fourth set. Another three-point run kicked off by a Kindt kill extended UWO’s lead to three. She later ended a TLU run with another kill to make the score 22-20. The Titans scored twice more before the Bulldogs extended the set with a kill. After another Bulldog point, Perlberg wrapped up her debut appearance in black and gold with her 28th kill.
