Wash U, Oshkosh, St. Thomas win tourneys

The weekend highlights were three Midwest/Central Region powers winning tournaments that featured multiple ranked teams.

Washington continued its unrivaled start by not losing a set at its home invite that brought Wittenberg, St. Olaf, Carthage and Ohio Northern to town. Wash U swept Witt in the final. If sweeping four elite teams weren’t enough, Wash U allowed opponents just 210 points (17.5 pts/set) in four matches. Wash U appears to be in a class by itself. Wash U Tournament site

Oshkosh rebounded from a sweep by Elmhurst in the opener to win its own invite that included U of Chicago and Texas-Dallas. I attended the Saturday matches against UC and UTD, and after not looking good when I saw them last week, Oshkosh looked great on Saturday. A lineup change or three since last week really changed the offensive dynamic. UWO handed UTD its first regular season loss since 2008 in the final pool match then beat UC and its constant 2-ball attack in the final. Random musings: UTD’s setter is fantastic and UC’s libero impressed, but Oshkosh’s outstanding passing is what stuck out the most. Well, that and the UWO outside hitting trio of Aleisha Bagin, Andrea Felton and Andrea Smith. Assuming Oshkosh sticks with this lineup, I’ll go so far as to say that I don’t think UWO has had a better outside trio in head coach Brian Schaefer’s tenure, including last year’s Final 4 team. Bagin has won MVP at both of UWO’s tourneys. Oshkosh Classic site

St. Thomas had 72 kills and 134 digs to get back on track with a five-set win over UW-Eau Claire in the final of the Augsburg Invitational, which also included Saint Benedict as a team getting Top 25 votes. Central swept St. Ben’s in the third-place match. St. Thomas upped its record to 4-2. Augsburg Invite site

-Ricky Nelson