Post-Crescent Writes About Fox Valley Oshkosh Players (4-12-11)
Post-Crescent sports copy editor Mike Sherry writes:
"When it comes to men's volleyball, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh club team stacks up against any of the biggest names in college sports.
The Titans won their third Division I national championship in Houston over the weekend, going 9-0 over three days at the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation championship.
Along the way, the Titans beat the likes of Purdue University, the University of Texas and Ohio State University before taking down Notre Dame in the championship match.
The Titans are coached by Kaukauna High School graduate Brian Schaefer, who has led the men's team since 2000. He has also been coach of the UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team for the past seven seasons.
"I am very proud of our team and excited for the guys," Schaefer said. "This is my best team ever in terms of togetherness on and off the court and the team fulfilled their mission they set of winning a national championship after the loss in last year's tournament."
The Titans were the No. 3 seed in the 48-team tournament and beat the University of Buffalo, Purdue and Texas in pool play on Thursday. Senior Dan Ruys of Kimberly had five blocks and senior Jordan Mattingly of Kaukauna had five digs and two services in the win over Buffalo.
Sophomore Bob Hall of Appleton West had 12 assists and three service aces in the win over Purdue, while Ruys had four blocks. Mattingly had four digs against Texas.
On Friday, the Titans beat UW-Milwaukee as Mattingly contributed five digs, then beat Utah Valley University in three sets to win their pool and advance to the gold bracket for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.
In Saturday's single-elimination bracket, the Titans beat Ohio State 25-20, 25-21. Ruys had seven kills and Mattingly had four digs. In the quarterfinals, the Titans beat the University of California-Davis 25-20, 25-18. Ruys had five kills and three blocks and Mattingly had eight digs.
In the semifinals, Oshkosh beat No. 2 seed Indiana University in three sets, winning the decisive third set 15-13. Ruys had four blocks and Mattingly had nine digs.
In the final against Notre Dame, the Titans lost the first set 25-21 before coming back to win 25-12 in the second set. Oshkosh led 11-10 in the third set before Tyler Boddy served four straight points to end the match.
Ruys had six kills and Mattingly had five digs in the final.
"I am especially proud of Boddy and Ruys, who emotionally took the team on their shoulders and would not let us lose," Schaefer said. "This is another special year in our program."
In addition to Ruys, Mattingly and Hall, other area players in the Titans men's volleyball program include Kimberly High School graduate Erik Harke and Kaukauna's Chris Johnson."
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011104120473
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