Menomonie – The UW-Stout volleyball team opened their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) schedule on Wednesday evening, falling to the third-ranked UW-Oshkosh Titans in three sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-13) at Johnson Fieldhouse.
The Blue Devils (6-3, 0-1 WIAC) went toe-to-toe with the Titans (12-1, 1-0 WIAC) in the opening set, pulling even at 21-21 on a kill from
Brooke McCune. Stout continued to press late, with McCune adding another kill to close within 23-22, but Oshkosh secured the final points to take the set.
McCune paced the Blue Devils with eight kills and seven digs, while
Kailey Kline anchored the back row with nine digs and added two service aces.
Brynn Hessel tallied four kills, with
Hope Bushendorf adding six kills. Setter
Lainey Todd handed out nine assists and chipped in three digs.
Defensively, Stout totaled six team blocks, led by Hessel,
Emma Barton, and
Hope Bushendorf with three apiece.
Nadia Marchionda added nine assists and two digs, while
Maja Anderson collected four digs off the bench.
The Titans, who entered the match ranked No. 3 in the AVCA Top 25, were led by Grace Juergens with eight kills and 11 digs, and Riley Borrowman added five kills and five blocks. Oshkosh finished the night hitting .224 as a team, compared to Stout's .022 hitting percentage.
Stout will look to bounce back this weekend when they travel to Superior, Wis. to compete in the Stinger Classic. Stout will face St. Scholastica and Knox College on Friday Sept. 19 and UW-Superior and Concordia Moorhead on Saturday Sept. 20.
