 "Photo: Photo by Josh O'Bright")
The UW-Oshkosh Titans women’s volleyball placed third at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday after beating the UW-Platteville Pioneers.
The Titans won the five-game match 18-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 and 16-14.
Oshkosh found itself playing for third place after being upset by the Blugolds of UW-Eau Claire in the conference tournament semifinals on Friday night.
Although the Titans were victorious in the third place match, coach Brian Schaefer didn’t think the team played its best match of the season on Saturday.
“We didn’t set or hit very well; it just came down to that,” Schaefer said.
The Titans recorded 10 hitting errors in the first game alone.
The match against UW-Platteville was a considerably closer contest than the match the two teams played on Oct. 21.
“Platteville really wanted to be there and that was the difference,” Schaefer said. “During the regular season I don’t think they scored more than 19 in any game (on Oct. 21).”
Senior right-side hitter Katie Beining voiced the same thoughts on Platteville’s play.
“I was pretty thrown back by their performance,” she said. “I feel like they really picked up their game from when we saw them last.”
Beining said she was happy to have beat Platteville, but thought the team struggled a bit.
“We won, but it was a little bit shaky,” she said. “I think we were thrown back a little bit from the match on Friday. I don’t think our heads were in it.”
The Titans rallied to beat Platteville after a disappointing loss Friday to UW-Eau Claire.
“I don’t know if we looked past Eau Claire because we wanted a shot at Whitewater or how that worked,” Schaefer said. “But Eau Claire played really well. You have to give them credit. We didn’t play as well as we could have.”
Beining said Oshkosh should have come into the match with a different attitude than they did when they faced the Blugolds.
“I don’t think we went into the Eau Claire game with the same mentality that we should have,” Beining said.
For the Titans, senior middle blocker Jacque Ray led the team with 19 kills, along with four blocks against the Pioneers.
Junior libero Christina Cahoon and Beining had 21 and 13 defensive digs respectively, while senior setter Katelyn Vara had 26 assists, and freshman setter Morgan Liebetrau posted 21 assists for the Titans.
“Morgan did a really good job coming in, and she played all the fourth and fifth game, which really got us fired up,” Schaefer said.
The Titans are back in action Nov. 12 against St. Norbert College in the National Collegiate Athletic Association regional matchups.
“I think it’s good that we play St. Norbert’s,” Beining said. “We know their defense and top players. I think it will be a good confidence booster for us if we pull out the first.”
The Titans advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament last year, but Schaefer said he thinks the team wants more.
“Our goals (for the season) have carried over from the seniors to the freshman,” Schaefer said. “You know, its win a national title.”
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