STEVENS POINT, Wis. – In a matchup of top-20 teams, the No. 16 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team handed No. 19 UW-Oshkosh its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) defeat of the season with a 31-29, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23 victory on Wednesday evening at Berg Gym.

Box Score

Gabby Thomas (Henderson, MN/LeSueur-Henderson) led the way with 19 kills and 10 digs, while Emma Brunkhorst (Germantown, WI/Germantown) had 10 kills and eight total blocks on her return to the court for UW-Stevens Point (21-7, 2-3 WIAC). Brunkhorst capped her return with a kill on match point in the fourth set to give the Pointers their sixth win in the last seven meetings with the Titans. The win improves the Pointers to 4-4 against ranked teams this season and 19-8 against ranked opposition under Abbey Sutherland.

Thomas' 19 kills were just two shy of her career-high 21 set earlier this season at UW-Platteville and registered her fourth double-double of the season. Ellen Drewry (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) joined Thomas and Brunkhorst in double figures in kills with 11.

Brittany Laffin (Carpentersville, IL/Hampshire) had her 13th 40-assist performance of the season, finishing with 49. Hannah Picel (West Bend, WI/West) made a match-high 30 digs, while Bri Piepenbrok (Merrill, WI/Merrill), Marie Krengel (Eagan, MN/Eastview) and Thomas were also in double figures in digs.

UW-Oshkosh started the match by winning the first four points but UW-Stevens Point hung around and eventually held a 24-21 lead. However, the Titans saved three set points to even the score at 24-24. The teams then traded points until the score was 28-28. Trailing 29-28, the Pointers closed out the set by taking the final three points.

UW-Stevens Point carried the momentum over to the second set by using a 7-0 run to go up 9-2. The Pointers led by as many as 11 in the second and hit .286, the best for either team in any set of the match. The Titans hit -.194 in the second and committed 24 errors in the first two sets.

UW-Oshkosh began a fightback by breaking open the third set with a 5-0 run to take a 19-11 advantage. UW-Stevens Point came right back with a 6-0 run to get within two and eventually tied the score at 20-20. The Titans broke a 21-21 tie with four consecutive points to force a fourth set.

The Titans led 6-2 early in the fourth but a 6-1 run gave the Pointers a 12-10 lead at the midway point. After UW-Oshkosh took a 17-14 lead that was short-lived as UW-Stevens Point won six of seven points to lead 20-18. The difference remained at two when the Pointers got to match point at 24-22 but an attack error kept the Titans in the match. However, Brunkhorst found a spot inside the right sideline for her 10th kill of the evening to end the match.

The Pointers hit .105 in the match but held the Titans to a .053 clip, as both teams hit over .200 in just one of the four sets. UW-Stevens Point also held an advantage of 15-13 in blocks over UW-Oshkosh, which entered the match seventh in the country in blocks per set.

Nerissa Vogt led the Titans with 15 kills and eight block assists. Katelyn Malcheski was the only other Titan in double digits with 11 kills and Lexi Thiel had 37 assists. Mandy Trautmann led four UW-Oshkosh players with at least 10 digs with 22.

UW-Stevens Point hosts Edgewood in a non-conference match on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at Berg Gym.