Oshkosh Streak Ends at 40 (4-3-06)
The UW-Oshkosh men's volleyball team lost for the first time this season and had its 40-match winning streak snapped in the finals of the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament held Friday and Saturday (April 1-2) in Sheboygan. The #1 ranked Titans lost to #4 ranked Michigan State University 25-22, 25-21, denying them their first MIVA championship.
The MIVA championship combines the Midwest Ten Conference, the Big Ten Conference and the Greater Midwest Conference to crown an overall champion of the Midwest. Despite the loss, the second place finish is the best the Titans have finished since they started playing the tournament in 1997.
The Titans started off pool play on Saturday by defeating Miami University (Ohio) 25-17, 25-23 and the University of Cincinnati 25-14, 25-12. Highlights in the two matches were nine kills by James Bradley (So. - Racine) against the RedHawks and six kills and four digs by Nathan Malewiski (Jr. - New Franken) against the Bearcats.
Match three featured #4 ranked Michigan State University. The Titans had 30 kills in the match as the Titans prevailed 25-22, 25-20. Andrew Sederberg (Sr. - Racine) led the offense with 28 assists as Bradley and Jeff Thomas (Sr. - Madison) each had seven kills and Nathan Sederberg (So. - Racine) added six kills.
#19 ranked The Ohio State University was the last victim of the day for UW-Oshkosh as they beat their second straight Big Ten opponent 25-20, 25-20. Bradley had seven kills on 10 errorless attempts and Thomas chipped in six kills on seven attempts and three service aces. The Titans finished the match hitting .461 on 31 kills.
UW-Oshkosh defeated Indiana University 25-17, 25-23, another Big Ten opponent to start the single elimination playoffs on Sunday. Thomas led the Titans with eight kills and Andrew Sederberg had six kills and 23 assists.
The Titans withstood a strong push from Ohio Northern University in the quarterfinals with a team 10 kills on 13 attempts in the deciding third game. After only hitting .117 in game one, UW-Oshkosh regrouped to avoid the early round upset 21-25, 25-19, 15-12. The middle blocking duo of Mike Semrad (Sr. - Waukesha) and Matt Lewin (Sr. - Cudahy) proved unstoppable as the combined for 22 kills for a .545 hitting percentage. Thomas added a tournament high nine digs and Bradley and Aaron Wayne (So. - New Berlin) added six kills each. Andrew Sederberg dished out 35 assists.
In the semifinals against #21 ranked University of Notre Dame the Titans started off slow in game one falling behind 13-7 and 21-18. Adding an emotional spark, Malewiski came off the bench to tally three digs during a six-point serving run by Andrew Sederberg to give UW-Oshkosh a 24-21 lead. After a sideout the Titans received a kill by Thomas to take the first game.
Semrad provided all the offense the Titans would need in game two as he slammed down six kills, accounting for half of the Titans total. Thomas also contributed to the victory from behind the service line as he served six straight points for a 16-11 UW-Oshkosh advantage. Semrad finished the match with 10 kills and five blocks and Andrew Sederberg has 19 assists and eight digs.
Despite having 33 kills the Titans could not overcome poor serving and blocking as the Spartans upset the Titans in two games in the finals. UW-Oshkosh could only muster one service ace to go along with 10 serving errors and only had four blocks in the game.
Semrad continued his torrid hitting as he had nine kills on 13 attempts for a .615 hitting percentage. Bradley and Thomas added eight kills and Wayne had four digs.
"Looking at the statistics we did not play that poorly," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "We usually win this type of match due to the opponents errors. Unfortunately Michigan State did not give us many free points and we could not capitalize on the chances we did get from them."
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