Oshkosh Bests Marquette in Five (2-28-08)
The UW-Oshkosh men's volleyball team survived a five-game battle against Marquette University, 31-29, 30-23, 15-30, 25-30, 18-16 to remain undefeated in Wisconsin Volleyball Conference action in a game held on Tuesday (Feb. 26) in Milwaukee.
UW-Oshkosh (31-2/7-0 WVC) entered the contest as the number one ranked team in the country according to the latest NIRSA Division I poll and Marquette University 23rd.
The Titans found themselves down 17-6 in game one before they battled back behind five kills and three service aces by Tyler Boddy (Fr. � New Ulm, Minn.) and four kills by Danny Hessling (Jr. � Greenfield) and Nathan Sederberg (Sr. � Racine).
Down 27-23 the Titans sided-out and then had consecutive blocks by Dan Ruys (Fr. � Kimberly) and John Erickson (Sr. � Ripon) to pull to within 27-26. After trading points, UW-Oshkosh pulled even at 28-28 on a kill by Hessling and took the lead on a service ace by Aaron Wayne (Sr. � New Berlin). After trading points again, the game ended on a hitting error by the Golden Eagles.
UW-Oshkosh took the match's momentum and rolled in game two to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Wayne had five digs in the game and Sederberg, Erickson and Boddy each had four kills.
Marquette University would not go down without a fight and pushed the Titans to a fifth-game with better blocking and serving in games three and four. The Titans committed 15 hitting errors in the third game and only managed 17 kills on 42 attempts in game four.
Game five was a see-saw affair until UW-Oshkosh pulled ahead 12-9. Trailing14-10, the Golden Eagles sided out and relied on a kill and three consecutive hitting errors by the Titans to take a 15-14 advantage. A much needed side-out by Sederberg tied the game at 15-15. Another kill by Marquette University gave them another match point opportunity before a missed serve and two clutch serving aces by Sederberg earned the Titans the match.
"This is a match that we could have let slip away," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "Nate's two serves to end the fifth-game were lasers and would not have been handled by many people. Marquette University played very inspired volleyball and I think our team learned a lesson to be mentally prepared for every match, especially on somebody's home court.
Erickson and Boddy led the Titans with 17 kills each and Hessling added 15 and Sederberg 14. Wayne led the team with 17 digs and Sederberg and Boddy each scooped up double-digit digs with 11 and 10, respectively. Andrew Schinner (Fr. � Mequon) and Brandon Kirkland (Sr. � Racine) shared setting duties with 35 and 32 assists and Erickson, Hessling and Ruys each had four blocks.
"We start three freshmen and as a team we played like it tonight," added Schaefer. "We passed very well with only two receiving errors but our hitting was very inconsistent. When we needed to perform we did and that is a sign that our seniors are doing a better job on the court leading us in important matches."
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