The UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball team hosted the Regional rounds of the Division III NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Nov. 16-18, taking down all three opponents to advance to the Elite Eight in Claremont, California.
The Titans swept their first two opponents in Greenville University (Illinois) and Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota), and beat La Verne University (California) 3-1 to clinch a spot in the Quarterfinal round.
In the matches against the Panthers and Gusties, UWO hit 37 kills on 93 total attacks against the Panthers then against the Gusties, the Titans totaled 40 kills off of 112 total attacks. One of the biggest moments in the meet vs the Gusties, The Titans opened up to an 11-1 lead thanks to four straight aces from Izzy Coon.
In the match vs La Verne University, despite losing the first set to the Leopards, the Titans were able to comeback and win the match 3-1 behind 23 kills from Riley Kindt. The win gave the Titans a spot in the Quarterfinals round.
UWO now has their sights set on the Quarterfinal round. Not only is it the first time that UWO made the quarterfinal round since 2009, but due to the teams receding, UWO will be the No. 1 seed in the final three games of the tournament.
The Titans will play their first game in Claremont against the No. 8 seed and host school Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas on Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. C.T. If they win, the Titans will advance to the semifinal round of the Tournament and will play the winner of Johns Hopkins University (Maryland)/Hope College (Michigan) at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 30. All of the games will be held at Claremont.
The Titans first opponent, The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas (25-5) are the defending champions of the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference for the sixth straight season and are also the No. 8 nationally ranked team. The Athenas are led by Jenna Holmes. Holmes leads the team with 392 total kills and averages 3.96 points per game.
Johns Hopkins University, the No. 9 team in the American Coaches Volleyball Association poll are coming into the Quarterfinal round behind their seventh straight championship in the Centennial Conference. The Blue Jays (25-4) are led by Simrin Carlsen. Carlsen is the team leader in kills with 447 and averages 5.16 points per game.
Hope College, the No. 2 team in the AVCA poll are the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference champions with a 30-2 record. The Flying Dutchmen are led by Addie VanderWeide. VanderWeide leads the team with 482 kills and averages 4.34 points per game.
If the Titans face off against the Flying Dutchmen in the semifinal round, it will not be the first time the Titans face off against Hope College. On September 30, both teams faced off at the University of Chicago with The Titans beating the Flying Dutchmen 3-1. Sami Perlberg led the Titans that day with 18 kills.
The Titans first game vs Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will have completed on Wednesday night. Check the results of the game at the UWO athletics website at uwoshkoshtitans.com.
