UW-Oshkosh Men's Volleyball Wins MIVA Championship (3-30-15)
The UW-Oshkosh men's volleyball team captured the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association title by going undefeated over the course of two days on Saturday and Sunday (March 28-29) on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Opening pool play on Saturday, UW-Oshkosh (45-2), ranked #3 according to the latest National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Division I poll, survived a close first set and then dominated the next frame to post a 25-23, 25-18 victory over #19 ranked University of Illinois. The victory avenged one of the two Titans losses on the season.
The Titans were led by Allen Grunert (So. - Muskego) who paced the team with eight kills on 11 attempts. Travis Hudson (Jr. - Wauwatosa) dished out 18 assists and added four service aces and two blocks, Wesley Morioka (Jr. - Chicago, Ill.) tallied six kills and four digs and Tyler Range (Jr. - Kenosha) had three blocks.
UW-Oshkosh wasted little time with the University of Miami (Ohio) in a 25-14, 25-15 rout. In a balanced attack the Titans were led by Jake Ahnert (Sr. - Burlington) who had five kills and three blocks and Hudson has 10 assists and three blocks.
The Titans survived a scare from intrastate rival #8 University of Wisconsin 26-24, 17-25, 16-14 to grab first in their initial pool. After hitting .461 in set one, the Titans offense cooled off in the second set before rebounding to hit .471 in the deciding third stanza.
Grunert led the Titans with seven kills and added two blocks. Range hit .500 on six kills and Morioka also had six put downs. Erik Harke (Sr. - Kimberly) and Tyler Wiedenhoeft (Sr. - Mequon) each had six digs and Hudson tallied 20 assists and five digs. Grunert and Range were a force at the net with five blocks and Ahnert and Morioka each had four stuffs.
On the last match on Saturday, the Titans again went three sets before prevailing 22-25, 25-19, 15-6 in a challenge match over the University of Cincinnati. After hitting .000 in set one, the Titans offense came to life by hitting .571 in set two and .533 in set three.
Hudson could not be stopped at the net, providing eight kills on a .636 hitting percentage. Tony Mack (So. - Muskego) and Morioka added seven kills each and Harke scooped up seven digs. Ahnert, Hudson and Michael Starzec (Jr. - Buffalo Grove, Ill.) each had two block solos and two block assists and Hudson dialed up 20 assists and a tournament-high six service aces. The Titans had 12 blocks and seven service aces in the match.
In the opening round match on Sunday, UW-Oshkosh faced #20 University of Notre Dame and prevailed for the third time this season over the Irish in a 25-12, 25-14 drubbing.
UW-Oshkosh hit .450 in the match led by Ahnert who had a team-leading eight kills on a .600 hitting percentage. Morioka added five kills and Grunert and Starzec each had four. Wiedenhoeft led the team with five digs and Hudson once again led the team with 18 assists. Starzec also added four blocks, including two solo stuffs and Ahnert also led the team with three service aces.
In the quarterfinals of the tournament the Titans hrugged off a tight second frame to beat Northern Illinois University 25-14, 26-24. The victory marked the third time the Titans have beaten the Huskies this season.
The Titans hit .700 in the first set by registering 14 kills on 20 errorless attempts to record the lopsided win. The Titans came back from deficits of 21-18 and 23-21 in set two to earn the sweep. Morioka led the team with nine kills on 11 attempts for a .818 hitting percentage and Hudson had 19 assists.
UW-Oshkosh rode its superior blocking to a 25-20, 25-21 victory over #5 Purdue University in the semifinals to reach the championship match. Ahnert collected six blocks and had five kills on eight attempts to pace the Titans. Grunert, Hudson and Range each had two blocks and Hudson ran the offense with 20 assists. UW-Oshkosh had nine total blocks in the sweep.
The Titans came out of the gate on fire against #6 The Ohio State University, lost a close second set and then once again dominated to register a 25-14, 23-25, 15-10 victory. UW-Oshkosh rode the hot hand of Mack as he slammed down nine kills on 14 attempts and added three blocks.
Defensively Range collected seven blocks and Grunert and Hudson each had three stuffs as the Titans had a total of 10.5 blocks in the match. Grunert and Morioka each had six kills and Hudson dished out 25 assists. The Titan serve receive keep the offense in system by only recording one receiving error against the high flying Buckeyes. The Titans have now won 19 straight matches and also have a seven-match winning streak when the contest goes to the deciding last set.
"Throughout the course of the weekend we had individuals that led us in certain matches," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "In our wins over both Purdue University and Ohio State University it was a team effort against two very talented programs. We are ahead of last year at this time but there is still a lot to do in practice before nationals. I am extremely proud of how hard the guys are preparing for another run at a national championship."
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