#1 UW-Oshkosh Dominates # 6 Marquette University (3-2-06)
The UW-Oshkosh (23-0/9-0 WVC) men's volleyball team dominated Marquette University (17-5/9-2) 30-28, 30-17, 30-26 in a match held in front of nearly 250 fans on Wednesday (March 1) in Kolf Sports Center. With the victory the Titans take a two-game lead over the Golden Eagles and Lakeland College in the race for the WVC regular season title.
Both teams started off slow in the first game as hitting errors plagued both teams. Tied eight times in the first 30 points, UW-Oshkosh finally pulled ahead 22-19 on a pair of kills by James Bradley (So. - Racine). Trailing 29-25, Marquette University sided out and scored two points on their serve before Mike Semrad (Sr. - Waukesha) ended the game with a kill. Bradley finished the game with five putdowns.
Game two was all Titans as they hit .667 in the stanza on 16 kills with only two hitting errors. Knotted at 8-8, Nathan Sederberg (So. - Racine) served six straight points, five on service aces to help the Titans to a 14-8 advantage. From there the Titans coasted to the lopsided defeat. Jeff Thomas (Sr. - Madison) slammed down six kills in the game and Bradley added three service aces.
Never really threatened in game three, the Titans emptied their bench giving the role players some experience on the court against a quality opponent. Up 13-9, UW-Oshkosh maintained at least a four-point lead the entire game in the three-game sweep. UW-Oshkosh entered the game as the top ranked team in NIRSA Division I and Marquette University sat in the number six position.
Nathan Sederberg and Semrad ended the match with 10 kills and Bradley and Matt Lewin (Sr. - Cudahy) each had nine kills as the team had 50 putdowns in the match and hit .398 in the contest. Andrew Sederberg (Sr. - Racine) dished out 45 assists and Nathan Sederberg and Bradley finished with five service aces each. Aaron Wayne (So. - Waukesha) tallied six digs and Semrad finished with four blocks.
"The match came down to serving and passing," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "We had 16 service aces and only one receiving error in the match which is outstanding against a very good passing and serving team. It took us a while to get the crowd involved in the match but once we had certain individuals in the game the atmosphere in the gym got very exciting. Except for a few moments, it was a fun match for the crowd and our players."
Despite the fact that the Titans have won five of the last nine WVC state championships, UW-Oshkosh is looking for its first regular season crown since the 1998 season. "We have been steady all season and tonight it showed on the court," added Schaefer. "It has always been my goal as a former player and now coach to win the WVC title first and go from there. Hopefully the players will take a jump back and take each step one at a time before we get to the NIRSA national championships."
<< Back to 2006 News
|
|
|
|
News Archives
|
|
|
|
 |
|
