The UW Oshkosh athletics department attempted to do what many thought was impossible – break the NCAA Division III volleyball attendance record for a regular-season match during Tuesday’s Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference clash between UW Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point at the Kolf Sports Center.
UWO’s “Community Night” held on Sept. 26 brought fans to the Kolf Sports Center to watch the undefeated Titans (ranked No. 4 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association) defeat the 17th-ranked Pointers 3-1.
The UWO Athletics Department gave all fans free entry in hopes of besting the regular-season attendance record set on Oct. 18, 2013, when Hope College (Michigan) defeated Calvin University (Michigan) in front of 3,051 fans at home.
While Oshkosh came up just short on setting the new attendance record for a regular-season matchup, the Titans set many new attendance records during UWO’s 18th win of the season. Oshkosh raised their single-match attendance record by 2,051 fans (an increase of over 300%), shattering the previous record of 674 fans set on Sept. 23, 2009, in a regular-season match against UW-Whitewater. The postseason attendance record for a single match was set in 1996 when the Titans took on Juniata College (Pennsylvania) in front of 969 fans in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Kolf Sports Center housed 2,643 total fans at UWO volleyball matches last year, meaning that more fans showed up to “Community Night” than in the entire 2022 season. The only season where the team totaled more fans than appeared at “Community Night” was back in 2017, when 3,954 fans watched UWO matches.
Oshkosh’s attendance mark in its matchup against the Pointers tied the record for the third-most fans in attendance for a D-III regular season matchup, after another Hope College and Calvin College matchup brought in 2,725 fans on Oct. 28, 2009.
UWO head volleyball coach Jon Ellmann said before “Community Night” that he was honored to host an event that brings together the community and celebrates Titan student-athletes.
“The Fox Valley community has been an amazing supporter of youth and collegiate athletics and as a higher education institution geographically positioned in the center of this amazing region,” Ellmann said before the event. “Volleyball is growing. More girls now play volleyball than any other female team sport in the country. We have a beautiful arena that holds more than any other DIII arena in the country. The previous attendance record of 3,051 was set 10 years ago and it’s our hope that we can get the Fox Valley out in force to create an evening that will surely be special for all involved.”
UWO junior Casey Webber said that the crowd was electric inside the Kolf Sports Center.
“It was really cool to see this movement from the community to attempt to break the attendance record,” Webber said. “The atmosphere of the crowd inside the building was one of the best that I have ever been a part of during my time at Oshkosh. It’s really special and speaks volumes to the campus in general that we are able to get the fans involved in the many different sporting events on campus.”
During the match, the Titans took the first, third and fourth sets 25-13, 25-18 and 26-24, respectively. UWO senior middle blocker Riley Kindt led the team with 12 kills on 26 attacks for a kill percentage of 0.286 and her 12th double-digit kill match of the season. Kalli Mau and Izzy Coon each recorded 21 and 15 assists, respectively, while Abby Fregien finished the match with 24 digs, extending her WIAC-leading mark of 259 kills this season.
UWO registered 38 assists and 39 kills in the match as a team and the Titans continue to lead the nation in both assists (807) and kills (848).
In the first set, Oshkosh jumped out to a 7-5 lead but quickly found themselves with a 17-7 advantage in part from back-to-back aces from Amelia Hust. Perlberg recorded the final kill of the set as UWO cruised to a 12-point victory in the opening set.
In the second set, UWO started slow and found themselves down 12-4 early. Oshkosh went on a scoring run to cut the Pointer lead to 19-11 but UWSP closed out the set with three straight points to even the match at a set apiece.
Stevens Point opened the third set on a 4-0 run, but the Titans stormed back to tie the set at 9-9. Both teams traded points for most of the set until a Perlberg kill jumpstarted a run that saw UWO score eight straight points and give the Titans a 24-17. Kirsh provided the set-point kill to give Oshkosh a 2-1 set advantage.
UWO started the final set on a 10-2 scoring run that featured five straight Stevens Point errors. UWSP fought their way back into the set, narrowing the Titan lead to 19-17 and the Pointers took a 23-22 lead off a kill from Sydney Mosinski. Oshkosh went on a 4-0 run to close out the set and a UWSP error gave UWO the match-point and sent the Titans to their 18th straight win.
Oshkosh will look to remain unbeaten when they travel to Chicago Sept. 30 for two matches against the University of Chicago (Illinois) and No.2 ranked Hope College at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. respectively.
