Oshkosh Regional: Semifinals

A defensive struggle and a service war tonight. Here’s my take.

Carthage 3, Wisconsin-Whitewater 2 It’s official. Someone stole Carthage’s uniforms and played yesterday. It’s official. I should never make predictions. The Reds’ digging and passing was much, much better tonight. The blocking? Same old Carthage – top-notch. This was a defensive fight the whole way. Neither team got many clean kills, and there were many long points. The liberos on both sides cleaned up behind the blocks, and it seemed like the only way to get points was to prolong them so the other side would commit an error or to take something off the swings and craft shots. A lot of tools, tips, on-twos and wrist-aways. Big swings were almost an exercize in futility due to the net and back-row D by both sides. It basically came down to which team would make the fewest mistakes on offense. Carthage did just that, and the Lady Reds are moving on.

Wisconsin Oshkosh 3, Heidelberg 1 First of all, hats off to Hedelberg for an outstanding regional. A lot of good players and coaches over there. And those serves and that digging? So strong. If you left after the first 15-20 points you must have been wondering how Oshkosh was 38-2. It took that long for the Titans to find their footing and settle down after Heidelberg raced out to a big lead behind big serves. At the start it looked like Oshkosh was going to get blown out of the gym. But once the Titans got on track, it was evident why they’re now 39-2. Oshkosh responded to Heidelberg’s tough serving with the tough serving that’s been the Titans’ signature all year. UWO OH Katie Beining, S Katelyn Vara, DS Danielle Swindell, L Christina Cahoon, OH Andrea Smith and Co. created havoc behind the service line. So many good things to say about how Oshkosh played tonight. So many that the whole team would get a game ball if I had a case to give. MBs Kelsey Mauer and Jacque Ray, and Beining and Vara got their hands on a lot of balls at the net. Cahoon, Smith, Beining and Swindell passed and dug really well, often allowing Vara multiple options. Even when Vara didn’t have many options she still found a hitter. Great match out of the UWO setter tonight. OH Ashley Sullivan came on in the third set and gave the offense another option with a few momentum-changing booming swings. As a whole, Beining, game-changer “Sully” and the middles Mauer and Ray played very well offensively. Sorry for gushing. But that Heidelberg team was very good, and every Oshkosh player contributed something spectacular tonight. If you’re an Oshkosh fan, it was one of those nights when you hope every recruit and every other team in the nation was watching.

From the other regionals (I’ll update throughout the night with links to key results): St. Benedict 3, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 1Concordia-Moorhead 3, Wisconsin-La Crosse 0Ohio Northern 3, Wittenberg 2Fredonia claimed another upset win in New York, this time over Stevens.

-Ricky Nelson