UW-Oshkosh Wins Wisconsin Volleyball Conference in Convincing Fashion (4-6-15)
The UW-Oshkosh men's volleyball team finished up its seventh straight Wisconsin Volleyball Conference regular season conference title and then went on to win the WVC State Championship on Friday and Saturday (April 3-4) in La Crosse.
UW-Oshkosh (53-2) made history when the Titans did not lose a set on their way to a perfect 16-0 record during WVC regular season action. UW-Oshkosh beat UW-Stout, 25-13, 25-13, UW-La Crosse, 25-16, 25-17, UW-Eau Claire, 25-23, 25-17 and UW-Platteville 25-20, 25-19 in matches played to finish up the regular season conference slate. The Titans also received a 25-0, 25-0 forfeit win over UW-Stevens Point to claim a 43-0 record in sets played over the course of the Wisconsin Volleyball Conference regular season.
During bracket play on Saturday, the Titans beat UW-Stout, 25-9, 25-17 in the quarterfinals, UW-Platteville, 25-14, 25-16 in the semifinals and #9 Marquette University, 25-14, 25-23 in the finals to claim their tenth WVC State Championship.
Against UW-Stout in their opening match on the weekend the Titans hit an unbelievable .750 in the rout. The Titans only had one hitting error on 22 kills in 28 attempts. Michael Starzec (Jr. - Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Travis Hudson each went four for four on kill attempts and Tony Mack (So. - Muskego) led the team with five kills on six attempts. Hudson dished out 11 assists and Allen Grunert (So. - Muskego) provided three service aces.
UW-Oshkosh held a slim 13-10 lead in the first set against UW-La Crosse before ending the set on a 12-6 run to take an early lead in the match. The Titans had five blocks and nine digs in the second set to finish off the Eagles.
Starzec led the team with six kills and six blocks. Hudson led the offense with 13 assists and added three service aces, four digs and three blocks. Grunert amassed four kills and two service aces.
Mack led the team in their win over UW-Eau Claire with eight kills on 15 attempts. Grunert added seven kills and two service aces and Tyler Wiedenhoeft (Sr. - Mequon) scooped up seven digs. Wesley Morioka (Jr. - Chicago, Ill.) totaled five kills and four digs and Hudson provided 22 helpers and four digs. Starzec led the team with three blocks.
Starzec led the Titans as they capped off the regular season against UW-Platteville by slamming down 10 kills on 11 attempts while adding three digs and three solo blocks. Hudson had 19 assists and nine digs and Tyler Range (Jr. - Kenosha) had five kills on five attempts. Mack and Hudson added five kills and Michael Wamboldt (So. - Kenosha) tallied four digs.
In bracket play on Saturday, UW-Oshkosh had little trouble with UW-Stout again as they beat the Blue Devils in less than 35 minutes. Mack knocked down six kills, Wamboldt had six digs and Hudson and Erik Harke (Sr. - Kimberly) had 10 and 8 assists, respectively. Harke and Jake Ahnert (Sr. - Burlington) each had three blocks.
The Titans defense came alive in the semifinals against UW-Platteville as Wiedenhoeft piled up 11 digs, Wamboldt had seven and Harke added six as the Titans had 31 in the match. Starzec and Mack each had six kills to pace the Titans offense and Hudson quarterbacked the team with 19 assists. Morioka led the team with two service aces and Starzec grabbed two solo blocks.
The Titans improved to 4-1 on the season against the Golden Eagles behind the backcourt play of Wiedenhoeft. Wiedenhoeft secured seven digs without a receiving error against hard-hitting Marquette University. Morioka added four digs and five kills and Hudson dished out 27 assists and had five kills and three blocks. Mack and Grunert added six kills and Range stuffed three Golden Eagles attacks.
The Titans ran away with the first set with a .652 hitting percentage before having to hang on with a tight second set victory. Down 23-22 the Titans got a kill by Range to tie the score, then a dig by Wiedenhoeft led to a kill by Hudson and they finished off the match when a kill attempt by Mack was dug by a Marquette University defender out of boards for the win.
Hudson was named the 2015 WVC State Championship most valuable player and Ahnert and Wiedenhoeft capped their WVC careers by being named to the all-tournament team.
"It was another impressive weekend for our team," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "I was very pleased on how focused our team was throughout the tournament. It could have been very easy to have a let-down after winning the MIVA Championship the previous weekend and to look ahead to nationals. We have 10 focused individuals on this team and they believe in working hard, each other and their ability to make another run at a national championship."
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