The UW Oshkosh volleyball team carried their hot streak to start the season into the first match of the UW-Whitewater Invitational on Sept. 15, beating Transylvania University (Kentucky).
With nine digs against the Pioneers, Amelia Hust became the newest member of UWO’s 1,000 digs club. She currently sits at 1,003 career digs.
UWO, ranked No. 3 in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll swept No. 16 Transylvania with set scores of 27-25, 25-23 and 25-16 to earn its 11th straight win and its second sweep over a ranked opponent to start the season.
Freshman Sami Perlberg continued her great start to her career, leading the team with 14 kills on 32 attacks. Izzy Coon and Kalli Mau both recorded double digit assists each, with Coon recording 23 and Mau recording 15. Hust recorded nine aces and Coon led the team with three.
In the first set, the Titans fell behind 19-15 but were able to control the damage and go on 5-1 run to tie the set at 20-20. Perlberg and Riley Dahlquist each recorded two kills in the run to tie it. After the first set, it was tied 20-20. The set remained close until UWO took advantage of two errors by the Pioneers and won the first set 27-25.
It was tied 3-3 early in the second set, but the Titans used a 9-4 run to pull away to a 12-7 lead. Transylvania was able to close the gap to 21-20 late. UWO was able to open the gap back up to a 23-20 lead thanks to two more kills from Perlberg and that cushion allowed the Titans to close out the set 25-23.
The third set was again close to start but ended up being all Oshkosh. The teams traded points to start, eventually tying up at 9-9. After that, the Titans pulled away thanks to another 9-4 run. This time, UWO did not allow Transylvania to make it close, as the Titans closed out the match with a 25-16 set win. Robyn Kirsch hit the game winning kill.
The Titans will be back Sept. 16, for day two of the UW-Whitewater Invitational with matches against No. 6 University of Northwestern (Minnesota) at 11 a.m. and College of Saint Benedict (Minnesota) at 1 p.m.
