UWO Invite: Day 1

So that’s how Oshkosh would play without All-American MB Leah Rosenbaum, huh? Rosenbaum sat out the first day with an illness that could shelve her for the rest of the season, and the Titans were, to put it mildly, not sharp.

Oshkosh won both matches in three games, but I have not seen the team play as poorly as it did against Lakeland and win since a Superior match three seasons ago. No way Oshkosh wins Saturday’s championship match playing like it did today. Then again, it may take a while to adjust to not having Rosenbaum.

The silver lining is that the Titans won both matches, which is something only No. 5 Oshkosh and No. 9 Carthage College can say after a wild day one.

No. 3 UW-Whitewater went into the day with two losses. The Warkawks left with four after dropping a four-game match to No. 1 Juniata before No. 9 Carthage swept Whitewater in the late match.

Whitewater at 0-2 after day one isn’t all that unexpected, considering the teams it played. What I didn’t expect was for No. 1 Juniata to lose in five games to No. 19 UW-La Crosse to end the day 1-1.

La Crosse was all kind of fired up in that match. I only got to see the last 15 points of the fifth game, but La Crosse looked like the better team, believe it or not. Juniata just couldn’t get a kill in that fifth game. Whatever Juniata sent over the net, whether it was an absolutely hammered attempt or a tip, it didn’t matter. La Crosse didn’t let anything hit the floor.  That win, even if Juniata was playing after a rather tense battle with Whitewater in its first match, is a huge one for the WIAC. What makes the La Crosse win even more amazing is that the Eagles lost a five-game match to Carthage an hour prior. I never thought La Crosse would be a better team than Juniata, but that was the case tonight.

Juniata is without its starting setter this weekend due to an injury. Head coach Larry Bock said on the team’s Web site that he made too many substitutions and his team couldn’t regain momentum.

“I probably made too many subs, trying to give some of the starters some rest,” he said, “but we still had a chance to win. I put the regulars back in during game three, but La Crosse had some momentum by then.”

Listen to a Bock interview regarding the UWO Invite from the Juniata athletics Web site. He has nothing but kind words for WIAC teams, although it seems like he predicted an Oshkosh/Juniata championship match.

http://www.juniata.edu/athletics/wvolleyball/audio/2007.10.10-Bock.mp3 (EDIT: link no longer active)

And I give Oshkosh head coach Brian Schaefer credit. Earlier this week he said he wouldn’t be surprised if two Pool A teams went 2-1 and the others were 1-2. From the start, I thought it was going to be Juniata and Oshkosh in the final. It still could be (I think), if Juniata beats Carthage tomorrow.

It was a wild one today. I hope tomorrow is the same. I’ll make a few predictions: Juniata beats Carthage and Whitewater beats La Crosse, setting up an Oshkosh vs. Juniata final. If the same Oshkosh team that played today shows up, I’ll take Juniata in the final. If the Oshkosh team that has played all season shows up, I have Oshkosh in five because the Titans can keep the floor clean with the best of them, and that’s how La Crosse won.

Records after day one:

Pool A Carthage 2-0 (W 3-2 vs. La Crosse, W 3-0 vs. Whitewater) La Crosse 1-1 (L 2-3 vs. Carthage, W 3-2 vs. Juniata) Juniata 1-1 (W 3-1 vs. Whitewater, L 2-3 vs. La Crosse) Whitewater 0-2 (L 1-3 vs. Juniata, L 0-3 vs. Carthage)

Pool B Oshkosh 2-0 (W 3-0 vs. Lakeland, W 3-0 vs. Stevens Point) Lakeland 1-1 (L 0-3 vs. Oshkosh, W 3-0 vs. MSOE) Stevens Point 1-1 (W 3-2 vs. MSOE, L 0-3 vs. Oshkosh) MSOE 0-2 (L 2-3 vs. Stevens Point, L 0-3 vs. Lakeland)

-Ricky Nelson