UW-Oshkosh Advances To NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship Contest

**UW-Oshkosh Sports Information contributed to this recap.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.--University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh secured a spot in the title game of the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship for the first time since 1994 with a 25-12, 27-25, 25-19 victory over Trinity University (Texas) at the Shirk Center on Dec. 4.

UW-Oshkosh (33-3) will face either University of La Verne (Calif.) (30-2) in the national championship on Dec. 6, with first serve set for 4:00 p.m. This will mark the second title match appearance in program history for UW-Oshkosh. This year’s appearance by the Titans is the second straight by a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference program.

Against Trinity (26-6), the Titans recorded a .248 hitting percentage with 52 kills on 129 total attacks with 20 errors, while holding the Tigers to a .079 clip with 29 kills and 19 errors on 126 total attacks. Trinity led 9-5 in team blocks while UW-Oshkosh held the advantage in points (62-40.5), kills (52-29), service aces (4-2), assists (48-26) and digs (67-50).

Samantha Perlberg got the match started with a kill and followed a kill by Lauren Grier with another to create an early 2-1 edge. A Tigers service error and back-to-back unforced attack errors increased UW-Oshkosh's edge to 6-2 before Perlberg got an 8-0 run started with a kill. Trinity responded to a four-point run by the Tigers with five in a row that featured a kill by Riley Borrowman, three Perlberg kills, and a combination block by Perlberg and Lauren Grier to make the score 23-11. Trinity got the serve back after a service error by Borrowman, however UW-Oshkosh notched the next two points to take the set.

The Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set and went on a 6-0 spurt after UW-Oshkosh tied the score at 7-7, eventually leading 15-7. The Titans responded with a 7-1 run with a Juergens kill and five Perlberg kills to bring the score back within a point at 16-15. The set was tied at 20-20, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, and 25-25 before Grier took the set into her own hands by hitting a kill and recording a solo block to set the match to set three.

The beginning of the third set remained close through 7-7 with six tied scores through that point. An attack error gave the Titans the serve and they tallied five more points, including two Perlberg kills, a Maren Motz kill, and a Borrowman kill, before the Tigers scored again. Trinity used a 6-1 run to get within a point at 16-15, however Clare McEniry kept the Tigers at bay with a kill. Juergens started a five-point run with a kill and Borrowman ended it with one of her own, bringing the match to set point. Following two Trinity points, Borrowman sent UW-Oshkosh to the national championship with her ninth kill of the night.

Perlberg recorded her 12th straight double-digit kill match with 19, which was also her 17th in UW-Oshkosh's last 19 matches. With a .293 hitting percentage, she suffered seven attack errors on 41 total attacks, while adding 10 digs for her 20th double-double and blocked two shots.

Juergens registered a matching 12 kills and 12 digs, while Borrowman finished a kill short of a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs.

Izzy Coon led all players with 26 assists, followed by 17 from Jaclyn Dutkiewicz, while Callie Panasuk had game highs of 24 digs and three service aces.

At the net, Lauren Grier totaled four blocks (one solo) and added five kills.

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