Oshkosh Regional Final: Titans Triumphant

Wisconsin Oshkosh 3, Carthage 2 Woah! That outta do it … Well, I guess I’ll write some more. Sorry about the delay, but I was nearly the last one out of the gym. And “Woah!” is really all you need to know. It was one of those matches you hope for. Serving and digging (Oshkosh) vs. blocking and digging (Carthage). That’s been both teams’ strengths all year. Serving and digging won. Of course the other Oshkosh phases were good in stretches, too. Setter Katelyn Vara gave OHs Katie Beining and Ashley Sullivan, and MBs Jacque Ray and Kelsey Mauer what they needed, like she usually does. And the net D touched a lot of attempts. But serving, digging and scrapping. That’s Oshkosh. Oshkosh started slow in the middle sets, but the Titans came storming back to take Set 2 rather comfortably. Oshkosh almost let Set 1 slip away. Cue the serve … Set 1 over. UWO couldn’t flip the switch in Sets 3 and 4 like it did in Set 2. I don’t think it would have mattered. Carthage was lights-out in Set 3, which saw the Titans’ passing and communication crumble. In fact, I’m not sure how UWO got into double figures in Set 3. The Reds were crushing, blocking (like usual) and keeping the floor clean. Ditto, but to a slightly lesser extent, in Set 4. A good chunk of the Titans’ 32 attack errors came in Sets 3-4. A lot of that had to do with the Lady Reds’ block of RS Rachel Swoboda, MH Jordan Burkholder and Co. Set 5 was, again, all about Oshkosh’s serve. Sandwiched between some sideouts the Titans put together two runs, and the match ended on a hitting error about a foot long down the middle. The receive that failed Oshkosh in Sets 3 and 4 failed Carthage in Set 5, although there wasn’t much the Reds could do in Set 5. UWO was on fire behind the service line. Just some gigantic momentum swings in a match I’m sure no one will soon forget. Despite seeing them win in five all year (UWO is now 11-0 in 5-setters this year), I’m not sure how the Titans found it again this time. A lively crowd was treated to a white-knuckler. Couldn’t ask for a better regional final. UWO is back at nationals for the first time since 1994 1996. Next up for Oshkosh? Oh, just No. 1 in all the land Juniata. The Eagles didn’t lose a set in their regional, by the way. Should be a good one.

How’s that for a messy recap?

All-Regional Team: OH Katie Beining, Wisconsin Oshkosh (MVP) S Katelyn Vara, Wisconsin Oshkosh L Christina Cahoon, Wisconsin Oshkosh L Katie Lundgren, Carthage RS Rachel Swoboda, Carthage MH Emily Hurlburt, Heldelberg MB Melissa Zuleger, Wisconsin-Whitewater

-Ricky Nelson