UW-Oshkosh Wins Las Vegas Open (3-21-17)
The UW-Oshkosh men’s volleyball team won the prestigious Las Vegas Open by beating seven opponents over the course of two days (March 17-18) in Nevada. The Titans entered the tournament as the number one ranked team in the nation according to the latest National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Division I poll.
UW-Oshkosh started the tournament by sweeping all three of its opponents in its first initial pool. The Titans dominated Salt Lake City Community College, 25-10, 25-22, overwhelmed Colorado Mesa University, 25-16, 25-11, and flushed University of California-Davis, 25-20, 25-11 on Friday.
Peter Nordel (Sr. – Torrance, Calif.) led the Titans in the opening match by going five for five in kill attempts and added four blocks. Travis Hudson (Sr. – Wauwatosa) provided 18 assists and six blocks and Brandon Schmidt (Gr. – Kaukauna) and Devin Hudson (So. – Wauwatosa) each had four kills. Jake Martin (So. – New Lenox, Ill.) scooped up five digs and Tony D’Acquisto (So. – Franklin) had four blocks. The Titans had 18 block assists in the match.
Against Colorado Mesa University Devin Hudson led the team with six kills, D’Acquisto had five and Nordel and Schmidt each had four put aways. Joe Kuchler (Sr. – Muskego) led the team with four digs and three service aces, Travis Hudson had 10 assists, Nick Davies (Fr. – Waukesha) tacked on seven assists and Michael Wamboldt (Sr. – Pleasant Prairie) had two service aces. D’Acquisto provided a team-leading three blocks.
Martin saved eight balls on the defensive end of the floor and Devin Hudson had 10 kills on the offensive side of the game to pace the Titans against the Mustangs. Nordel added a team-best three service aces and had two blocks and Sammy Pedersen (Sr. – Muskego) added five kills. Travis Hudson amassed 21 assists while directing the Titans to a .458 team hitting percentage.
UW-Oshkosh beat one of the best second teams in the nation and NCVF Division III #1 ranked University of Arizona II, 26-24, 25-19 to start Gold Bracket play on Saturday. It was the second consecutive year that the Titans had to play the Wildcats in the opening round on Saturday.
In a balanced offense the Hudson brothers, Nordel and Schmidt each had five kills and Pedersen had four as the Titans had 26 kills in the match. Martin piled up eight digs, Nordel added four blocks and Travis Hudson put up 20 assists. The Titans struggled with seven service errors on only one service ace. The Titans did have seven blocks and did not have a receiving error.
In the quarterfinals the Titans met up with rival Arizona State University and prevailed 25-19, 25-16 behind seven kills, three blocks and 16 assists by Travis Hudson. Pedersen added five kills and D’Acquisto Nordel, Schmidt and Pedersen each had two blocks. UW-Oshkosh hit .421 in the match and had eight blocks. In 2015, the Titans beat the Sun Devils in the NCVF Division I championship match and prevailed in last season’s quarterfinals before going on to win the championship for the third consecutive season.
After losing its first set of the tournament, the Titans came back to beat #12 San Diego State University 21-25, 27-25, 17-15 to reach the finals behind a tournament high 13 kills on 22 attempts by Nordel. Schmidt and Pedersen added seven kills as the Titans had 39 kills in the match.
Travis Hudson tallied a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs, Martin registered nine digs and D’Acquisto had three blocks. Defensively Kuchler had six digs and Pedersen and Wamboldt each had five saves.
In the finals, UW-Oshkosh avenged its loss in last year’s tournament by defeating #8 University of Arizona, 25-16, 22-25, 15-9. In 2016, the Wildcats knocked out the Titans in the quarterfinals.
Devin Hudson and Pedersen led the team with six kills as UW-Oshkosh hit .471 in the match. Travis Hudson led the team with 20 assists and added four kills and two service aces. Martin totaled five digs and Nordel finished with five kills.
“Coming into the tournament we wanted to use these matches as a barometer as where we are at as a team offensively and defensively,” said head coach Brian Schaefer. “We entered the tournament due to graduation and injuries with only two starters returning from last year and we grinded out a championship.”
Travis Hudson was named the tournament most valuable player to add to an all-tournament team nod he earned in 2016. Schmidt and Martin were also named to the all-tournament team.
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