Was on vacation last week and didn't get in until very, very early yesterday morning so wasn't able to post anything on regionals. Did get a chance to watch some of the Eau Claire and Whitewater matches while waiting in the airport Friday afternoon and then Eau Claire's match today before heading into work. With that said, the WIAC will be sending   two teams onto the National Quarterfinals in UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire. Unfortunately, Whitewater lost to Calvin Friday.

Teams will be reseeded now with the final 8 set and with Calvin's upset of Illinois Wesleyan it looks like both WIAC teams will end up on the same side of the bracket. If things go according to the last AVCA poll seeds will be as follows.

#1 East Texas Baptist
#2 UW-Oshkosh
#3 UW-Eau Claire
#4 La Verne
#5 Colby
#6 Trinity (TX)
#7 Berry
#8 Calvin

I can see a scenario where maybe LaVern ends up the 3 seed and Eau Claire comes in at #4. Guess we'll see where things fall in the coming days.

Stout wins the Isthmus Bowl today over Wash U 31-23.

I followed along the best I could via live stats as I was traveling tonight, but in what must have been an incredible match to watch UW-Oshkosh takes down UW-Eau Claire in a reverse sweep to win the WIAC. (18-25, 21-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-13).

Now we wait to see how the post season breaks down in regards to who is playing where and who. As I mentioned earlier WIAC probably only gets 3 teams in.

Oshkosh
Eau Claire
Whitewater

Hopefully they get split up a bit and get a chance to maybe host.

Been traveling since Thursday afternoon and visiting my son who attends NDSU. Actually went to watch the Bison vs. St. Thomas VB match Thursday night and followed the WIAC games on line.

After the dust settled from a pair of sweeps we will have:

#2 UW-Eau Claire @ #1 UW-Oshkosh tonight. Will be a tough mountain to climb for the Blugolds, especially if Oshkosh is on their offensive game like the were in last week's matchup.

WEEK 11 AVCA POLL WIAC UPDATE

Illinois Wesleyan makes a jump above Oshkosh and Eau Claire as the 2 WIAC teams flip with the Titan's home win against the Blugolds Friday night. Whitewater stays firmly entrenched in the #11 spot for the 3rd week in a row.

#4  UW-Oshkosh    (26-3) +1
#5  UW-Eau Claire (26-3) -2
#11 UW-Whitewater (24-6) --


See prior post for the WIAC tournament 1st round result. No match of the week yet as its pretty fluid, but if all goes according to the seeds we should be looking at a Titan/Blugold rematch come Saturday night in Oshkosh.

Looking ahead to Monday I have to think Oshkosh, Eau Claire and Whitewater are locks for NCAA post season play. Don't think the WIAC will be able to slip in more than three this year unless LaCrosse somehow finds a way to win the conference tournament and grab the automatic bid.

WIAC Tournament Update

#4 UW-Whitewater takes care of #5 UW-Stevens Point with a 3-0 sweep. (25-20, 25-16, 25-22).

#6 UW-LaCrosse goes on the road and upsets #3 UW-Platteville in four 3-1. (29-27, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22).

Thursday's Semifinals

#4 UW-Whitewater @ #1 UW-Oshkosh
#6 UW-LaCrosse @ UW-Eau Claire

Titans with a decisive 3-1 victory over the visiting Blugolds tonight to go undefeated in regular season WIAC play and the #1 seed for the WIAC tournament. Blugolds had no answer for the Titan offensive attack and Oshkosh's blocking game along with errors on behalf of the Blugolds really never saw Eau Claire threaten to what the final outcome will be. Whitewater goes up to Stevens Point and after dropping the first set to the home team rattled off 3 sets in a row to earn the #4 seed.

Seeds for the WIAC tournament that starts Tuesday is as follows.

#1 UW-Oshkosh
#2 UW-Eau Claire
#3 UW-Platteville
#4 UW-Whitewater
#5 UWSP
#6 UW-Stout

1st round is Tuesday with both Oshkosh and Eau Clarie earning 1st round byes. Tuesday has:

UWSP @ UW-Whitewater
UW-Stout @ UW-Platteville

2nd round is Thursday with the Conference Final a week from tomorrow.

Remember WIAC network will be charging for post season WIAC tournament, so if you are planning to watch there you'll have to pay to watch. Good luck to all teams.

WEEK 10 AVCA POLL WIAC UPDATE

A little change for the WIAC teams, but nothing to dramatic. Oshkosh slipped with their loss to Illinois Wesleyan, but he pulled off solid wins against Juniata and Whitewater, which was an amazing match to watch last week.

#3  UW-Eau Clare (26-2) +1
#5  UW-Oshkosh (25-3) -2
#11 UW-Whitewater (23-6) --

UW-Platteville dropped out of receiving votes.

WIAC STANDINGS UPDATE

UW-Eau Claire and UW-Oshkosh are locked into the #1 & #2 spots. Friday nights will determine who is which. Seeds #2-#6 are still up in the air and will just be a matter of who wins certain matchups with the UW-Whitewater @ UW-Stevens Point probably having the biggest impact.


WIAC MATCH OF THE WEEK: UW-Eau Claire @ UW-Oshkosh. This match will decide the #1 seed for the WIAC tournament as they are both coming in with 6-0 records in conference play. Should be an outstanding match in Oshkosh come Friday night.

NCAA Regional Rankings (Through 11/2/2025)

1. UW-Eau Claire
2. UW-Oshkosh
3. Illinois Wesleyan
4. WashU
5. UW-Whitewater
6. Edgewood
7. Transylvania

A bit surprised Oshkosh stayed ahead of Illinois Wesleyan considering they got swept by them Friday night.

Looking forward to Friday night. Hopefully I'll get a chance to watch on the WIAC network.

Quote from: BigMark on November 01, 2025, 11:23:02 AM

Quote from: '95 Blugold on November 01, 2025, 01:29:34 AMBlugolds have their only remaining winnable game on the road this weekend as they travel to take on Stevens Point. A loss this weekend and the Blugolds likely go winless in the WIAC.

What do you make of this? With the facilities that UWEC has, it has been a decade of bad football. I expected this to be a turn around year for them. Not sure what else they have to do to get out of the basement of the WIAC.

From my non expert analysis opinion it comes down to 3 things.

1. Coaching and their ability to get talent at Eau Claire. Had hopes with Wesley Beschorner a few years back, but looking back now and seeing his coaching path it's pretty clear Eau Claire was just a stepping stone job for him, so kind of wonder how vested he was in building for the long term success of the program.

Erickson does have previous WIAC history so he is familiar with and knows what it takes to win in the WIAC. The key is hopefully for him to stay and keep building on what he's started and not leave. The Sonnentag facility was new last year, so hopefully that can help pull in better talent. There has been talk on getting home games on campus. As nice as Carson Park having home games on campus would be pretty awesome. I know this example gets thrown around sometimes when you have a really bad NFL team and you compare them to top college teams, and it may be a bit hyperbole, but you could probably put the Minnesota State AAAAAA champ against Eau Claire in a game and it would be fairly competitive.

2. QB Play. Looking at other teams in the WIAC, the successful ones have difference maker at the QB position. This has been huge liability in recent years for Eau Claire. Malueg was completely inept and Roubideax who followed him and wrapped up his career last season was a turnover machine. Our current QB (Soph.) Ayden Helder is a first year starter and has looked rather promising. He's a 2X state champ in Minnesota at the AAA level from my area over here so I've followed him prior to him even becoming a Blugold. Barring injury, he'll be rewriting record books for the Blugolds at QB by time he wraps up his career. Just hope that translates into wins.

3. No Defense. Apart from Stevens Point, the last time Eau Claire held a WIAC opponent under 30 points in a game before the Oshkosh game this season was 2019 against River Falls. Pretty much any team other than Point could call their score before the game and hit it. Going back through the 2021 we've given up 50+ in 11 games with a few in the 60 and 70+ range. Heck we could barely keep those teams under 40. Apart from River Falls dropping 73 on us a couple weeks back we haven't given up more than 50 in the other games so I guess there's that. I'm sure some is scheme/coaching, but the defensive side of the ball is lacking in talent, especially against the pass.

That all said this year's squad is very young. Looking at the starters from today's game against Point 16 of our 22 starters are listed as freshman or sophomores, with many of the sophomores I'm sure as first year starters that red shirted last season. If they can develop and we can bring in some better talent to upgrade hopefully we see a little more progress next season and then 2 years from now really take a meaningful step forward. Until then, I'm afraid we are the Badgers of the WIAC:

- Bad Football Team
- Awesome Band
- Really good Volleyball Program    (not that I'm complaining about the band or VB program, cause they are fun to watch.)

Blugolds have their only remaining winnable game on the road this weekend as they travel to take on Stevens Point. A loss this weekend and the Blugolds likely go winless in the WIAC.

WEEK 9 AVCA WIAC Poll Update

No change for Oshkosh and Eau Claire as they stay at #3 & 4 respectively. Whitewater drops a few spots with their conference loss to Stout during the week. Platteville is still hanging around receiving votes.

#3 UW-Oshkosh (23-2) --
#4 UW-Eau Clare (24-2) --
#11 UW-Whitewater (21-5) -3

RV UW-Platteville (11)

Massey Ratings (through 10/27)

#3 UW-Oshkosh
#5 UW-Eau Claire
#7 UW-Whitewater
#29 UW-Platteville

WIAC STANDINGS UPDATE

With 2 matches left for conference play Oshkosh and Eau Claire are in the driver's seat for the 1st & 2nd seed and the first round bye that accompanies it. Platteville currently sits in 3rd at (3-2) with Whitewater, Stout, and Point locked in a 3 way tie for the 4th-6th spot at 2-3.

Co-WIAC MATCH OF THE WEEK:

UW-Oshkosh @ UW-Whitewater. The Warhawk have a lot at stake in regards to standings and conference tournament seeding. In the midst of a 2 game conference losing streak Whitewater will wrap up the season with final match up at Stevens Point to wrap up WIAC play following this weeks' match up against Oshkosh.

UW-Platteville @ UW-Eau Claire. UW-Platteville still has a chance to steal the #2 seed from the Blugolds and to do so it starts with going up to The Sonnentag tomorrow and taking down the Blugolds who have not lost at home all season.

Oshkosh has another gauntlet of non conference play again this weekend as they travel to Bloomington, IL where they will take on #6 Illinois Wesleyan Friday and #5 & 3X Defending National Champion Juniata on Saturday.


Finally, the 1st NCAA Regional Rankings were released. Through October 26 games. Region VIII breaks down as follows:

#1 UW-Eau Claire
#2 UW-Oshkosh
#3 Ill. Wesleyan
#4 UW-Whitewater
#5 Wash U
#6 Edgewood
#7 Transylvania

With Whitewater's loss to Platteville and Eau Claire win over Hope the rankings shuffled up a bit below #3 Oshkosh. Interestingly enough the Warhawks still received a vote for the #1 spot.

#3 UW-Oshkosh (21-2) --
#4 UW-Eau Claire (23-2) +7
#8 UW-Whitewater (21-3) -4

Massey Rankings thru Oct. 21

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

WIAC Match of the Week: UW-Platteville @ #3 UW-Oshkosh.

Fresh off a home victory over the #4 Whitewater. Platteville now goes on the road to UW-Oshkosh. A win for Platteville would really help their post season outlook.

Didn't get a chance watch at all, but the Blugolds gave the Titans a decent battle in Oshkosh today falling 28-21. Still a loss, but I believe this is the first non-Pointer WIAC team they held to under 30 points since the 2019 season.

KWIK TRIP PLAYERS' OF THE WEEK - OCT. 13

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Offense

Abby Stanwood, Senior (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka), Outside Hitter of UW-Eau Claire
Stanwood helped the Blugolds to a 4-0 week with four road victories, including wins over No. 12-ranked Hope College (Mich.), and vote getting teams in Coe College (Iowa) and the University of Northwestern (Minn.). Stanwood swung at .392 hitting percentage, tallying 5.13 kills per set, recording a career-high 27 kills against Coe, and setting a game-high .480 attacking percentage against the Kohawks. In the 12 sets won by the Blugolds, Stanwood recorded the winning point in seven of the sets with six set-sealing kills and one block assist.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Kayla Sexton, Junior, Outside Hitter, St. Cloud, Minn. (St. Cloud Cathedral)
UW-Oshkosh, Lauren Grier, Junior, Middle Blocker, Fond du Lac, Wis. (Fond du Lac)
UW-Platteville, Kierney McDonald, Senior, Middle Blocker, Taylor Ridge, Ill. (Rockridge)
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 hold down the Blugold defense in four wins during the week, including wins over No. 12-ranked Hope College (Mich.), and vote getting teams in Coe College (Iowa) and the University of Northwestern (Minn.). Erickson recorded 5.19 digs per set and held a serve receive average of 93.8 percent. Erickson and the Blugold defense held opponents to a .176 attacking rate and 10.94 kills per set.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Kayle Sexton, Junior, Outside Hitter, St. Cloud, Minn. (St. Cloud Cathedral)
UW-Oshkosh, Samantha Perlberg, Junior, Pin Hitter, Chippewa Falls, Wis. (Chippewa Falls)
UW-Platteville, Kelsey Ewert, Senior, Libero, Hustisford, Wis. (Hustisford)
UW-Stevens Point, Abby Nevins, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist/Libero, Muskego, Wis. (Muskego)
UW-Whitewater, Abbie Dix, Junior, Middle Hitter, Brodhead, Wis. (Brodhead)

Setter

Alex Kiebel, Freshman (Maple Lake, Minn./Maple Lake), Setter of UW-Eau Claire
Kiebel helped power the Blugolds to four wins during the week with victories over No. 12-ranked Hope College (Mich.), and vote getting teams in Coe College (Iowa) and the University of Northwestern (Minn.). While the Blugolds averaged 14 kills per set as a team, Kiebel recorded 10.63 assists per set with a 43.8 percent success rate and a weekend-high 47 assists against Coe. In addition to her offense, Kiebel tallied 34 digs with 2.13 digs per set, helping keep opponents at a .176 attacking rate.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Megan Lund, Sophomore, Setter, Rochester, Minn. (Century)
UW-Oshkosh, Jaclyn Dutkiewicz, Senior, Setter, Franklin, Wis. (Franklin)
UW-Platteville, Gracie Gibbens, Senior, Setter, Katy, Texas (Katy Taylor)
UW-Stevens Point, Hannah Strege, Freshman, Setter, Shakopee, Minn. (Shakopee)
UW-Whitewater, Aubrie Krzus, Junior, Setter, Wheaton, Ill. (Warrenville South)

Looks like WIAC Network is moving to Pay-Per-View for post season coverage.

https://blugolds.com/news/2025/10/16/general-wiac-netowrk-release.aspx