WIAC Week 6 AVCA Poll Update

Good week overall for the 3 ranked WIAC teams as the go a combined 9-1 with the lone loss coming from Eau Claire against now #10 Wash U.

#3 UW-Oshkosh (19-2) --
#4 UW-Whitewater (16-2) --
#8 UW-Eau Claire (15-2) -3

RV: UW-Platteville (9)

Looks like the WIAC has a week off from conference play with the next slate of matches set for Wednesday, October 15. Blugolds have another top 25 showdown this week as they travel to the Hope College Tournament this weekend that will include a match against host and #12 ranked Hope College.

Massey Rankings thru Oct. 6

#3 UW-Oshkosh
#5 UW-Whitewater
#6 UW-Eau Claire

It was more or less the same old same for the Blugolds at Carson Park today. Blugolds got the ball first, but turnover and a couple series for each team later and it was 14-0 before you knew it and felt like "here we go again." Blugolds actually played pretty decent the rest of the half aided by multiple face mask penalties by Stout to pull within 14-10 before heading into half down 21-10.

2nd half was all Stout with a couple long TD passes and a stifling defense. Blugold observations:

Point will probably once again be our only winnable WIAC game as this defense will be lucky to keep any of the other teams under 40.

Poor positioning, tackling and maybe scheming had the Blugolds just not being able to get off the field on defense.

Offense has zero run game and despite the passing game being ok, it just isn't consistent enough to maintain long drives enough to put up points on a consistent basis.

Blugolds start conference play against Stout for Homecoming in the "War of I94". Will finally see if their first 3-0 start since 2007 is legit or just fools gold from an easy NC schedule.

A few notes:

Blugolds have not won 4 games in a season since 2018 when they went 4-6.

Last conference win not against UWSP, 2019 against River Falls,  which was also Homecoming for the Blugolds.

Currently in the midst of a 9 game losing streak to UW Stout.

Good luck to everyone else today.

WIAC Week 4 AVCA Poll Update

Blugolds make another big jump this week for some reason to give the WIAC 3 teams in the top 5 in this weeks poll.

#3 UW-Oshkosh (14-2)  --
#4 UW-Whitewater (14-2)  --
#5 UW-Eau Claire (13-1)  +5

RV: UW-Platteville (11)

WIAC Match up of the Week: Going to go with UWEC @ UW-Stout. Blugolds are hosting the Blue Devils in Football for homecoming on Saturday and it appears the VB teams will be getting this interstate rivalry off to an early start tomorrow as Eau Claire heads to Stout for their first WIAC road match up of the season.

Blugolds also have a looming weekend showdown on Saturday at Stevens Point against #10 Wash U. They will also face Carthage who is receiving votes. If I weren't making it back to campus for the homecoming game, I'd consider heading over to Stevens Point.

KWIK TRIP PLAYERS' OF THE WEEK - September 29

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL


Offense


Kierney McDonald, Senior (Taylor Ridge, Ill./Rockridge), Middle Blocker of UW-Platteville
McDonald was active at the net for the Pioneers during the week, tallying three solo blocks and 11 block assists for an average of 1.17 blocks per set as UW-Platteville won all four matches. She had one solo block and three block assists across two sets in a sweep of Beloit College (Wis.) before adding two solo blocks and three block assists in a four-set win over UW-Stout on Sept. 26. McDonald picked up a combined five block assists in a pair of sweeps over the weekend and totaled 3.92 kills per set on the week.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Norah Erickson, Junior, Outside Hitter, Norwood Young America, Minn. (Central)
UW-La Crosse, Kayla Sexton, Junior, Outside Hitter, St. Cloud, Minn. (Cathedral)
UW-Oshkosh, Samantha Perlberg, Junior, Pin Hitter, Chippewa Falls, Wis. (Chippewa Falls)
UW-River Falls, Blessing Adebisi, Junior, Middle Blocker, White Bear Lake, Minn. (White Bear Lake)
UW-Stevens Point, Carly Thomka, Junior, Middle Blocker, Muskego, Wis. (Muskego)
UW-Stout, Brooke McCune, Junior, Outside Hitter, Osseo, Wis. (Osseo-Fairchild)
UW-Whitewater, Abbie Dix, Junior, Middle Hitter, Brodhead, Wis. (Brodhead)


Defense
Kaitlyn Erickson, Sophomore (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park), Libero of UW-Eau Claire
Erickson helped the Blugolds extend their winning streak to 13 matches with a 3-1 victory over UW-La Crosse on Sept. 24. She posted 26 digs, three assists, and zero reception errors. With 6.50 digs per set and handling all 18 serves that came her way, Erickson helped UW-Eau Claire keep UW-La Crosse hitting below .235 in each set and .150 overall.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Taylor Larson, Senior, Libero, Hartland, Wis. (Menomonee Falls)
UW-Oshkosh, Callie Panasuk, Freshman, Libero, Oak Creek, Wis. (Oak Creek)
UW-Platteville, Kierney McDonald, Senior, Middle Blocker, Taylor Ridge, Ill. (Rockridge)
UW-River Falls, Audrey Petersen, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Glencoe, Minn. (Glencoe-Silver Lake)
UW-Stevens Point, Abby Nevins, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Muskego, Wis. (Muskego)
UW-Stout, Kailey Kline, Junior, Libero, Genoa, Ill. (Genoa-Kingston)
UW-Whitewater, Gaby DiMotto, Freshman, Outside Hitter, New Berlin, Wis. (New Berlin West)


Setter
Aubrie Krzus, Junior (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South), Setter of UW-Whitewater
Krzus led UW-Whitewater to three wins in the Warhawks' home invitational during the week. She averaged 10.63 assists per set, while adding 13 kills, eight aces and six blocks.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Alex Kiebel, Freshman, Setter, Maple Lake, Minn. (Maple Lake)
UW-La Crosse, Megan Lund, Sophomore, Setter, Rochester, Minn. (Rochester Century)
UW-Oshkosh, Izzy Coon, Senior, Setter, Fond du Lac, Wis. (St. Mary's Springs Academy)
UW-Platteville, Gracie Gibbens, Senior, Setter, Katy, Texas (Katy Taylor)
UW-River Falls, Olivia Noble, Sophomore, Setter, Maynard, Minn. (Kekhoven-Murdock-Sunburg)
UW-Stout, Lainey Todd, Junior, Setter, Ypsilanti, Mich. (Ypsilanti Lincoln)

WIAC Week 4 AVCA Poll Update

Bit of a rough week in the polls for the WIAC. Whitewater drops 2 matches after reaching #1 in last week's poll and Platteville drops out all together. La Verne who beat Oshkosh a few weeks back takes over the #1 spot with East Baptist who rallied to take a 5 set match opening weekend against UW-Eau Claire moving up to #2. Blugolds were the big upward movers of the week after taking down then #1 Whitewater in a thrilling 5 set win in front of a record crowd at The Sonnentag Friday night.

For the WIAC:

#3 UW-Oshkosh (13-2) --
#4 UW-Whitewater (11-2) -3
#10 UW-Eau Claire (12-1) +4
RV UW-Platteville (6-5)



Match of the Week: Gonna go with UW-Platteville @ UW-Stevens Point next Tuesday in a battle of the Tier 2 teams currently in the WIAC.

KWIK TRIP - Players' of the Week Awards - September 22

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL


Offense
Bailey Leeke, Senior (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North), Rightside Hitter of UW-Eau Claire
Leeke tied a career high during the week as the Blugolds posted a pair of victories. After recording a double-double against the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.) with 15 kills and 12 digs, Leeke tied her career high in kills with 25 successful attacks against No. 1-ranked UW-Whitewater. As she hit at a .302 rate, Leeke averaged 4.44 kills per set, 4.94 points per set, and 2.11 digs per set.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Samantha Perlberg, Junior, Pin Hitter, Chippewa Falls, Wis. (Chippewa Falls)
UW-River Falls, Kelsey Klesner, Freshman, Outside Hitter, Marion, Iowa (Linn-Marr)
UW-Stevens Point, Logan Cregan, Freshman, Outside Hitter, Little Canada, Minn. (Roseville)
UW-Stout, Brooke McCune, Junior, Outside Hitter, Osseo, Wis. (Osseo-Fairchild)
UW-Whitewater, Abbie Dix, Junior, Middle Hitter, Brodhead, Wis. (Brodhead)

Defense
Kailey Kline, Junior (Genoa, Ill./Genoa-Kingston), Libero of UW-Stout
Kline averaged 6.19 digs per set in five matches during the week, helping the Blue Devils go 4-0 at the UW-Superior Stinger Classic. She had a WIAC-high 34 digs against UW-Superior and currently leads the WIAC and is 19th in the nation with 4.28 digs a set.  This week, she totaled 99 digs and was named to the Stinger Classic All-Tournament Team. Kline had 15 digs against No. 3-ranked UW-Oshkosh. 19 vs College of St. Scholastica (Minn.), 11 vs Knox College (Ill.) (in 2 sets), 34 vs UW-Superior and added 21 more against Concordia College-Moorhead (Minn.). She added three service aces and received 130-of-131 serves cleanly.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Madi Wilson, Freshman, Middle Blocker, Onalaska, Wis. (Onalaska)
UW-Oshkosh, Callie Panasuk, Freshman, Libero, Oak Creek, Wis. (Oak Creek)
UW-Stevens Point, Tessa Erlandson, Junior, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Kenyon, Minn. (Kenyon Wanamingo)
UW-Whitewater, Natalie Lawson, Freshman, Defensive Specialist, Elmhurst, Ill. (IC Catholic Prep)

Setter
Alex Kiebel, Freshman (Maple Lake, Minn./Maple Lake), Setter of UW-Eau Claire
Kiebel put up career numbers and a pair of double-doubles during the week as the Blugolds went 2-0. On Sept. 17, Kiebel set a career high of 37 assists against the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.). The personal accolade was short lived for the first year as Kiebel broke her own personal record on Sept. 19, with 58 assists as the Blugolds upset No. 1-ranked UW-Whitewater. With wins against two opponents in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, Kiebel finished her nine sets with 10.56 assists per set and 2.89 digs per set.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Izzy Coon, Senior, Setter, Fond du Lac, Wis. (St. Mary's Springs Academy)
UW-Stevens Point, Hannah Strege, Freshman, Setter, Shakopee, Minn. (Shakopee)
UW-Stout, Lainey Todd, Junior, Setter, Ypsilanti, Mich. (Lincoln)
UW-Whitewater, Aubrie Krzus, Junior, Setter, Wheaton, Ill. (Warrenville South)

WIAC Week 3 AVCA Poll Update

Sorry, not my usual write up as I'm traveling and not getting all that up to date on info, but with Juniata's win streak finally coming to an end Whitewater moves up to #1.

#1 UW-Whitewater (10-0) +1
#3 UW-Oshkosh (11-1) --
#14 UW-Eau Claire (10-1) +4
#25 UW-Platteville (4-5) -13

WIAC play started this week with the match of the week being tomorrow night as #1 Whitewater travels to #14 Eau Claire. If you able, you should be able to watch the luve stream via the WIAC Network app.

Blugolds go on the road to Ohio and defeat Kenyon College 35-6. I know the first two have been against "lesser competition", but Blugolds are 2-0 for the first time since 2021. Should have a good chance to be 3-0 going into WIAC play as we have Martin Luther up next.

We'll see what happens once WIAC season starts, but if Ayden Helder stays healthy it looks like we may finally have a decent QB at the helm running the offense for the next few years.

Thanks for the update.

WIAC Week 2 AVCA Poll Update

I was wondering after Oshkosh's big weekend if it would be enough to vault them up to #3 and it was. I figured #4 was a lock, but didn't know if the pollsters would jump them up over Johns Hopkins or not.


#2 UW-Whitewater (7-0) --
#3 UW-Oshkosh (9-0) +3
#13 UW-Platteville (4-1) --
#18 UW Eau Claure (6-1) +2

WEEK AHEAD

UW-Whitewater joins UW-Eau Claire at the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament in Eau Claire this weekend were both will be facing  Marian, St. Catherines, and Lakeland. I'll be heading over to watch matches this weekend.

Another home meatgrinder of a weekend for the Titans as they host the UW-Oshkosh Invitational where they will be facing #5 LaVerne, #8 Hope, and (RV) Chicago.

Platteville got their week off with a (1-3) loss tonight on the road against #23 Dubuque. This weekend the travel to Carthage where they take on unranked Carthage, Concordia (WI), and Colorado College.

Blugolds got their week started with a sweep on the road at Bethel (25-18, 25-15, 28-26) in front of hosting this weekend.

KWIK TRIP - WIAC Players' of the Week Awards: September 8

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Offense
Samantha Perlberg, Junior (Chippewa Falls, Wis./Chippewa Falls), Pin Hitter of UW-Oshkosh
Helping UW-Oshkosh to six wins during the week, including three over top 15 opponents, Perlberg recorded 100 kills across UW-Oshkosh's six matches, averaging 5.26 kills per set. She hit .295 on 258 total attacks with only 24 errors. Perlberg recorded at least 16 kills in the five matches she started in with a career best 27 against No. 10-ranked Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) on Sept. 5. In three of the Titans' four matches of the Marty Petersen Invitational at Kolf Sports Center on Sept. 5-6, she registered kill and dig double-doubles and totaled nine blocks on the week.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Abby Stanwood, Senior, Outside Hitter, Excelsior, Minn. (Minnetonka)
UW-La Crosse, Grace Nommensen, Junior, Outside Hitter, New Glarus, Wis. (New Glarus)
UW-Platteville, Kierney McDonald, Senior, Middle Blocker, Taylor Ridge, Ill. (Rockridge)
UW-River Falls, Reese Bauman, Junior, Middle Blocker, Hayfield, Minn. (Hayfield)
UW-Stevens Point, Ella Trieloff, Junior, Outside Hitter/Rightside Hitter, Park Ridge, Ill. (St. Viator)
UW-Stout, Brooke McCune, Junior, Outside Hitter, Osseo, Wis. (Osseo-Fairchild)
UW-Whitewater, Abbie Dix, Junior, Middle Hitter, Brodhead, Wis. (Brodhead)

Defense
Brynn Hessel, Junior (South Range, Wis./Northwestern), Middle Hitter of UW-Stout
Hessel totaled 14 blocks in the three matches to open the season for the Blue Devils. Against No. 19-ranked Colby College (Maine), she had three. Then added two against Maine Maritime Academy and nine against Endicott College (Mass.) to help the Blue Devils hand both teams their first losses of the season. She currently leads the conference with 14 blocks in just nine sets played. She is second in the nation with 1.56 blocks a set. Against Endicott, Hessel added seven kills with a .294 hitting percentage.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Darienne Andre, Senior, Middle Blocker, Lakeville, Minn. (Rosemount)
UW-Oshkosh, Callie Panasuk, Freshman, Libero, Oak Creek, Wis. (Oak Creek)
UW-Platteville, Kierney McDonald, Senior, Middle Blocker, Taylor Ridge, Ill. (Rockridge)
UW-River Falls, Audrey Petersen, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Glencoe, Minn. (Glencoe-Silver Lake)
UW-Stevens Point, Abby Nevins, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Muskego, Wis. (Muskego)
UW-Whitewater, Abbie Dix, Junior, Middle Hitter, Brodhead, Wis. (Brodhead)

Setter
Aubrie Krzus, Junior (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South), Setter of UW-Whitewater
Krzus helped lead the Warhawks to a 4-0 record during the week at the UW-Whitewater Invitational. She posted 9.57 assists per set, while also bolstering the offense and defense. Krzus tallied 16 kills, an average of 1.14 per set, while hitting .389 on the week. She added 14 blocks, averaging one per set over the four-match span. Krzus was named to the All-Tournament Team at the invitational.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Alex Kiebel, Freshman, Setter, Maple Lake, Minn. (Maple Lake)
UW-Oshkosh, Izzy Coon, Senior, Setter, Fond du Lac, Wis. (St. Mary's Springs Academy)
UW-River Falls, Cora Sayotovich, Sophomore, Setter, Harris, Minn. (Rush City)
UW-Stout, Lainey Todd, Junior, Setter, Ypsilanti, Mich. (Lincoln)

What a weekend for the ranked WIAC teams highlighted by UW-Oshkosh taking down 3 ranked opponents as cubs mentioned above.

UW-Oshkosh takes down #10 Wash U 3-1 with the final 2 sets going extra (20-25, 25-13, 26-24,26-24), #5 Emory (25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18), #14 C-M-S (26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23) and also unranked Marion in 3 sets.

UW-Whitewater went 4-0 at their first invite host of the season. I was incorrect in my above post in that I though all 4 opponents were unranked, but I missed that Berry College was ranked #24 who they took down in 5 in reverse sweep fashion (24-26, 17-25, 25-17, 25-20, 16-14). Sweeps of Concordia (WI), Pacific Lutheran & Elmhurst started off their invite.

UW-Eau Claire went down to Chicago and went 3-0 starting with a 3-1 victory over host #22 Chicago (23-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16) on Friday. Saturday was a sweep of both unranked Lawrence and Illinois Institute of Technology.

UW-Platteville did not have an invite, but did go on the road Friday night and swept Cornell College.

Blugolds takes down Carroll University 29-7 in a game they pretty much controlled throughout. Offense was pretty efficient though I think the O-Line seems a bit weak in the run game. Blugolds may have finally found a QB in sophomore Ayden Helder from Stewartville, MN. I believe he redshirted last season, so he should have 4 more years at the helm assuming everything progresses as it should. Concerns again in the secondary, especially once we hit WIAC play with better athletes on the perimeter of the field. Overall, it is still nice to be sitting at 1-0.

Blugolds open their season tonight with a Thursday night game against Carroll University.

Oddly enough, this will be the first ever meeting between the 2 programs. 3rd season of the Rob Erickson coaching era that has started off with back to back 2-8 seasons with the lone wins coming against Concordia College and UWSP both years.

One has to go back to 2019 to find the last Blugold win over a WIAC opponent (UWRF) that wasn't UWSP. 2019 we also defeated then #6 St. Thomas in our last meeting against the Tommies before they made the jump to FCS.

Hoping we can at least start turning the corner this season, in what has been a very long dry spell in terms of success for Blugold football.