The UW Oshkosh women’s volleyball team beat the University of Chicago Maroons 3-1 in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship on Nov. 22 in Marietta, Ohio. It was a rematch from a game on Nov. 2 when the Titans beat the Maroons 3-0.
The Titans (28-5) ranked No. 7 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll took down the No. 20 Maroons (25-11) with set scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-16 after losing the first set 18-25.
UWO outhit the Maroons with a .182 hitting percentage to Chicago’s .102 percentage.
Robyn Kirsch and Sami Perlberg led the Titans in the win, with both recording 12 kills, and Riley Kindt followed behind with 11 kills. Kalli Mau led the team in assists with 23 while Izzy Coon had 17. Abby Fregien, this season’s Defensive Player of the Year in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference led the team with 19 digs.
UWO started the first set with a 3-1 lead, but the Maroons erased it with four straight points to claim a 5-3 advantage. Chicago was able to extend its lead to 16-7, but the Titans didn’t go down without a fight as UWO was able to close the deficit down to six points a couple of times. UWO cut the Maroons’ lead down to 23-18 and forced Chicago to call a timeout. The Maroons, however, were able to hang on and win the set at 25-18.
The Maroons opened the second set with a 5-1 lead. The Titans, however, did not allow Chicago to pull away as UWO was able to respond with kills from Perlberg and Lauren Grier to trim the four-point deficit. UWO was able to tie the set at 9-9 with a 3-0 run behind kills from Kindt and Joslyn Wolff. Both teams then recorded back-to-back points to tie the set at 11-11. The turning point of the second set was when the Titans went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-12 lead behind five combined kills from Perlberg, Wolff and Kirsch. UWO led the rest of the way in the second set as Chicago never got within four points of the Titan lead.
The Titans started the third set with a 4-1 lead due to kills from Perlberg and Kirsch along with a block from both Kirsch and Kindt. It was a back-and-forth set, but the Titans were able to break it open with a 4-0 run to go up 12-6 behind three combined kills from Wolff and Perlberg. The Titans used another 4-0 run later in the set up 16-13 to make it 20-13 and UWO cruised to the set three win.
Chicago started the fourth set with a 5-0 lead, but the Titans immediately responded with five straight points to tie it at 5-5. It was back-and-forth between the two teams as neither team had a lead larger than three points. That was until UWO went on an 8-2 run to take a 20-13 lead. It was another smooth ending to a set for UWO as the Titans won the set and the match. Olivia Breunig scored the final point with a kill.
The Titans will advance to the Regional Final round where they will take on the Illinois Wesleyan Titans (24-9) Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. IWU is the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champions and are coming off of a sweep against the regional host Marietta University (Ohio).
