UW-Oshkosh II Wins WVC State Championship in Dramatic Fashion (4-3-11)
In front of a boisterous crowd of nearly 400 spectators, the UW-Oshkosh II men's volleyball team survived a nail-biting 16-25, 25-19, 16-14 victory over upset minded Northland International University in the finals of the WVC Division II State Championship on Saturday (April 2) in Kolf Sports Center.
The Titans (25-4-1) feel behind early in the match and could not recover in the first set defeat. "Northland International University played incredible defense and did not make any mistakes the first set," said head coach Brian Schaefer. "We were hoping that they could not play at that level the entire match to give ourselves a chance."
UW-Oshkosh turned the tide in the second set behind 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Steve Brunelli (Jr. - Greenfield) led the way with six kills in the stanza and Erik Harke (Fr. - Kimberly) added two service aces and six digs.
The deciding set was all Pioneers to begin with as they inched out to an 11-7 advantage, forcing a Titans timeout. After the break, the Titans got a kill by Chris Pokrzywa (Fr. - New Berlin) to close to within 11-8. After another kill by Northland International University, made the score 12-8, Ryan Schultz (Sr. - Wauwatosa) took over from the service line after a side out by scoring three straight points to knot the score at 12-12.
Tied at 13-13, a kill by Will Brydon (Jr. - Northbrook, Ill.) put the Titans up 14-13 before an out of rotation violation on the Titans tied the score again at 14-14. Brunelli came up big again with a kill to give the Titans their second match point at 15-14 with Harke headed to the service line. Harke's aggressive serve led to an overpass that Andrew Nett (Jr. - Fond du Lac) slammed to the ground giving the Titans the emotional victory over their in-state rivals.
"It was a fun, action packed match that was fueled by our incredible crowd support," added Schaefer. "You could not have asked for a better setting for such an incredible match played by two great teams."
Brunelli led the Titans with 10 kills, followed by Brydon with eight and Harke with six. Schultz dished out 26 assists and Harke finished with nine digs and three service aces. Marcus Taylor (Sr. - Elmhurst, Ill.) had eight digs and Brydon finished with four blocks.
UW-Oshkosh had a much easier time in the semifinals against UW-Whitewater II, winning 25-11, 25-18 in straight sets. Brunelli led the team with five kills and Harke followed with four kills, while adding three blocks. Schultz piled up 19 assists and Nett had a team-leading four blocks.
The Titans won their opening pool on Friday (April 1) by defeating Northland International University, 27-29, 25-22, 15-5, UW-Green Bay/St. Norbert College, 25-16, 19-25, 15-7 and Marquette University II, 25-16, 25-15.
Harke, Nett and Pokrzywa led the Titans against the Pioneers with eight kills each, followed by Brunelli with seven and Brydon with six. Schultz dished out 31 assists, Nett had four blocks, Pokrzywa added three service aces and three blocks and Harke had seven digs.
Brydon and Pokrzywa each had eight kills and Brunelli and Nett tallied seven in the win over UW-Green Bay/St. Norbert College. Taylor piled up tournament high 12 digs and Schultz ran the offense to a tune of 35 assists. David Catoe (So. - Racine) added two service aces and Nett and Schultz each had three blocks.
Pokrzywa went to work against the Golden Eagles with nine kills on 12 attempts and three blocks. Schultz dished out 19 assists and Brydon posted four blocks. Patrick Phillips (Fr. - Delafield) added three blocks and Nett was a perfect four for four in kill attempts.
UW-Oshkosh, which won its 10th straight WVC regular season title earlier in the 2011 campaign, finished the season with a 17-0 record against in-state competition.
The Titans conclude their season at the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Division III national championship in Houston, Texas. Action gets underway on Thursday (April 7) at Reliant Park.
<< Back to 2011 News
|
|
|
|
News Archives
|
|
|
|
 |
|
