The UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball team began the 2024 season at the Colorado College Pikes Peak Challenge on Aug. 30, ending the day 1-1.
The Titans, ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll, faced No. 16 Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota) (2-0) and Colorado College (0-2). Last season, UWO faced Gustavus Adolphus at home on Nov. 17 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship. The Titans won in three sets by scores of 25-10, 25-23 and 25-13.
UWO played the Gusties in its season opener on Friday. It lost set one 27-25 and set 25-16 in the second. The Titans took set three 25-18 but lost 25-17 in the fourth.
UWO recorded 51 kills with a .156 hitting percentage to Gustavus Adolphus’ 56 with a .211.
Sami Perlberg led the Titans with 13 kills and was joined in double-digits by Robyn Kirsch with 11. Izzy Coon and Kalli Mau each eclipsed 10 assists (19 and 17) while Kirsch and Riley Kindt both blocked two attacks.
The Titans started the first set by scoring four straight points with kills from Olivia Breunig and Mau. They later went on a 6-point spurt to take a 21-17 edge on kills from Hannah Moe with two, Lauren Grier and Kirsch with one and a service ace from Perlberg. Gustavus Adolphus responded by scoring six of its own points to take a late 23-21 edge. Kirsch and Moe bookended a 3-point run with kills to make the score 24-23, however Gustavus Adolphus outscored Oshkosh 4-2 the rest of the way.
Gustavus Adolphus grabbed the early lead in the second set and never let up after Grier brought the Titans within two points at 4-2.
Both teams scored two points at the start of the third set, followed by three more from UWO for a 5-3 edge. The Titans further extended their lead with two 5-point streaks and the score sat at 15-5 after the second. The Gusties scored five straight of their own, cutting the deficit to 19-14, however Oshkosh didn’t let up and finished it off with a Coon kill.
Set four saw the Gusties take nine straight points after both teams scored one on the first two serves. UWO scored at least two consecutive points four times in the set, but couldn’t overcome the early run by Gustavus Adolphus.
The Titans faced Colorado College for match two of the day. They swept the Tigers in straight sets with scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-23.
UWO hit 44 kills (.372) with 41 assists, five aces and three total blocks against Colorado College’s 40 kills (.253), 39 assists, five aces and two total blocks.
Kirsch took her turn atop the Titans’ kills leaderboard with 12, followed by Kindt with 11. Mau and Coon each registered 16 assists.
The Tigers scored the first two points of the first set, but their lead was short-lived when Oshkosh scored three-straight on a Perlberg kill, a bad Tiger set and a Malia Winchel. Oshkosh’s edge hovered around four points until it went 5-0 to push the deficit to 16-10. Colorado College climbed back within three points multiple times until Breunig ended the set on a kill.
Oshkosh immediately jumped ahead in the second set with four points, capped off by a Winchel kill. The Tigers took the lead at 16-15 with a 3-point run, however a 3-point Titan spurt swapped the lead back in Oshkosh’s favor and a 6-1 run for the Titans gave them the win.
UWO fell behind by a point early in the third and final set until seven straight points came from two Kindt kills, two Kirsch kills and three Tiger attack errors put the score at 10-4. The teams traded small runs the rest of the way and Colorado College never allowed the Titans to have an edge of more than five points. Both teams hit two kills for the final four points and Perlberg capped the day off with a kill from Mau to win the set and match.
The Titans return to action Aug. 30 for day two of the Pikes Peak Challenge.
