Four members of the UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball team and head coach Jon Ellmann were tabbed for American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region Eight First Team on Wednesday (Nov. 15).
Riley Kindt and Sami Perlberg led the Titans with first team honors as well as Region Player of the Year and Region Freshman of the Year, respectively.
Earning her second consecutive All-Region First Team nod, Kindt was also named to the All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team for the third year in a row as a middle blocker. She ranked fourth in the WIAC with a .355 hitting percentage, sixth with 3.96 points per set, eighth with 3.25 kills per set and 10th with 0.830 blocks per set in the regular season. She hit a season-high 18 kills against Washington University (Missouri) on Oct. 13. She was named to the All-Tournament teams at the UW-Whitewater, UW-Stevens Point, WashU and UW-Stevens Point Papa Johns Invitationals.
Perlberg earned a spot on the first team in her first collegiate season. She ranked seventh in the league with 3.28 kills per set and eighth with 3.71 points per set. Her 357 kills and 404 points sat her at sixth and seventh, respectively. She recorded a season-high 18 kills twice this season, against Texas Lutheran University on Sept. 1 and Hope College (Michigan) on Sept. 30. She earned tournament MVP after the Trinity Invitational concluded and was on the Marty Peterson Invitational and UW-Stevens Point All-Tournament Teams. Perlberg is the sixth Titan to earn Region Freshman of the Year and the first since Samantha Jaeke in 2016.
Also earning a place on the first team were Abby Fregien and Riley Dahlquist.
Fregien, who claimed her first career All-WIAC First Team laurel and claimed her second-straight conference All-Defensive nod, was named to her second All-Region team in two years. She led the league with 517 digs and ranked fourth with 4.79 digs per set in the regular season. She started all 33 matches for the Titans, recording double-digit digs in 27 of them and 20-plus in eight. Her season-high mark of 25 came on Oct. 11 against UW-Eau Claire. She was named WIAC Defensive Player of the Week three times and was named to the Trinity University (Texas) Invitational All-Tournament team.
Dahlquist acquired multiple top-10 marks in the league, including hitting percentage (.299, fifth), service aces (0.390, seventh) and blocks per set (0.930, seventh). She hit 19 kills twice in the regular season, a career-high. Her first 19 kill performance came on Sept. 30 against the University of Chicago and her second came Oct. 13 against WashU. The middle blocker was named a member of the Marty Peterson Invitational and WashU Invitational All-Tournament Teams.
Ellmann, currently in his sixth season, was named Region Eight Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Ellmann directed the Titans, who compiled a league record 33-match winning streak to start the season, to the 14th conference title in program history and a perfect mark in the WIAC since 2009. He owns a 141-58 record in six seasons at the helm of the Titans. He also won WIAC Kwik Trip Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.
