Number One Ranked Titans Capture Third at Hoosier-Illini Classic (2-22-09)
After storming through day one and winning an emotional match against the University of Illinois on day two, the UW-Oshkosh men's volleyball team could not put away a big lead in set one against the University of Missouri and settled for third place at the Hoosier-Illini Classic on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 21-22) in Bloomington, Ind.
UW-Oshkosh (17-2) breezed through their initial pool on Saturday by defeating Ohio Northern University, 25-21, 25-16, Michigan State University II, 25-16, 25-19 and the University of Minnesota, 25-22, 25-23. In a placement match against the University of Central Florida, UW-Oshkosh also prevailed in straight sets, 25-22, 25-18.
Nate Sederberg (Sr. - Racine) led the Titans on the opening day with 30 kills and 60 assists. John Erickson (Sr. - Ripon) added 28 kills, Bill Meidenbauer (Fr. - Waukesha) produced 18 kills and Aaron Lang (Jr. - Appleton) tallied 17 kills.
Andy Schinner (So. - Mequon) dished out 48 assists, Aaron Wayne (Sr. - New Berlin) scooped up 19 digs, Meidenbauer added seven service aces and 14 digs and Danny Hessling (Sr. - Greenfield) had seven blocks.
In single elimination action on Sunday, UW-Oshkosh manhandled the University of Illinois II, 25-16, 25-15 to open play. The Titan hit an astonishing .744 in the match, including a mind-numbing .888 in set two with 16 kills on 18 errorless attempts.
Erickson was a perfect six for six on kill attempts, while Meidenbauer added five service aces and Tyler Boddy (So. - New Ulm, Minn.) had five digs. Sederberg paced the Titans with 16 assists and Schinner added 10 helpers.
In what has become one of the most heated rivalries in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Division I, the number one ranked Titans survived against number third ranked University of Illinois.
After committing nine hitting errors in the first set, the Titans settled down and only had two miscues in sets two and three to come back for a 22-25, 25-22, 15-10 victory over the Illini.
Defense was the key against the University of Illinois as UW-Oshkosh had 25 digs in the match and six blocks. Wayne provided seven digs, Sederberg five and Boddy and Schinner four each, including two in the pivotal deciding set.
The Titans had nine kills on 11 attempts without an error and three blocks in the third set to pull away. UW-Oshkosh, which beat the University of Illinois in the national semifinals in 2005, 2006 and 2007, has now gone to the deciding third set five consecutive times in the rivalry, winning all of them.
"We played with a lot of emotion against the University of Illinois," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "They are an elite team and to have this type of success against them says a lot about our program. John (Erickson) came up with two huge blocks against one of the best players in the country and that gave us the edge we needed to carry us to victory."
Erickson finished with eight kills and three blocks and Sederberg had 19 assists and seven kills. Meidenbauer added three service aces and Dan Ruys (So. - Kimberly) had four kills and two service aces. Hessling finished with six kills and two blocks and Lang put down five kill attempts.
The win over the Illini in the quarterfinals marked the fifth consecutive time that the Titans reached at least the semifinals of the tournament. Unfortunately UW-Oshkosh could not duplicate their championships in 2006 and 2007 with a 27-25, 18-25, 15-11 loss to the University of Missouri.
UW-Oshkosh held leads of 19-12 and 24-20 in set one before hitting errors cost the Titans the early lead in the match. UW-Oshkosh committed 10 hitting errors in the first set, including four straight to allow the Tigers to knot the score at 24. After another hitting error gave the Tigers a 25-24 advantage, the Titans finally sided out before giving up two more points.
The Titans rebounded with a comfortable win in set two but could not put things together offensively in the deciding set and fell for the first time ever to the University of Missouri.
Hessling led the Titans with 10 kills, including nine in the first set. Sederberg added 11 assists and eight digs and Schinner produced 12 assists. Ruys had six kills and three blocks and Lang tallied five kills.
"We are obviously disappointed with the outcome of the semifinal match but it will not define our season like our loss last year at this tournament," added Schaefer. "We let one slip away, but you have to give them credit, they had nothing to lose and played well. In the loss we still come away knowing that we proved something to ourselves that we can contend for a national title this year."
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