OSHKOSH, Wis. - The No. 14 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team rallied from 11-9 down in the fifth set to defeat No. 18 UW-Oshkosh 25-18, 17-25, 28-26, 18-25, 15-13 to advance to its fifth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship title match on Friday evening at Kolf Sports Center.
 
Box Score
 
Trailing 11-9, UW-Stevens Point (26-7) went on a 4-0 run out of a timeout to take a two-point lead. UW-Oshkosh (26-8) and UWSP then alternated the final four points as the Pointers closed out the match on a kill by Kelly Cefalu (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) to book its spot in the championship match.
 
In the title match, UW-Stevens Point will take on No. 11 UW-Whitewater at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 at Kolf Sports Center. The Pointers have defeated the Warhawks in each of the last two WIAC Championship final matches.

The win was UW-Stevens Point's second-straight five-set victory in the WIAC Championship and moves the Pointers to 7-3 in five-set matches this season.
 
Cefalu, Gabby Thomas (Henderson, MN/LeSueur-Henderson) and Emma Brunkhorst (Germantown, WI/Germantown) tied for the team-lead with 13 kills for UW-Stevens Point, as the trio combined for 39 of the Pointers' 52 kills. Brittany Laffin (Carpentersville, IL/Hampshire) recorded 44 assists and 14 digs in the victory.
 
The Pointers' defense was led by 32 digs by Hannah Picel (West Bend, WI/West), who was one of five UWSP players with at least 14 digs. Thomas pitched in with 25, while Markie Krengel had 19 and Bri Piepenbrok (Merrill, WI/Merrill) pitched in with 18. Brunkhorst led the team with eight bock assists.
 
UW-Stevens Point used a 9-2 run in the middle of the first set to take an 18-12 lead but UW-Oshkosh hung around. Ahead 21-18, the Pointers won the final four points of the set on kills by Brunkhorst and Laffin and a block by the pair. UWSP hit a match-best .222 in the opening frame.
 
The Pointers took an early 2-0 lead in the second set, but the Titans took the next five points and never looked back with a 25-17 set win. UW-Oshkosh hit .273 in the second and had a kill on 17 of their 25 points.
 
In the third, UW-Oshkosh won six consecutive points to go up 13-9 but UW-Stevens Point went on a 6-1 run later on to take a 19-18 advantage. The Titans managed to hold a set point at 24-23 only for the Pointers to win four of the final five points to go ahead two sets to one.
  
UW-Oshkosh took an early 7-2 lead in the fourth set but UW-Stevens Point stayed close after a timeout to trail just 11-8. After an Oshkosh time out, the Titans went on a 7-1 run to earn a comfortable 20-12 lead that they saw out to force the match the distance.
 
Nerissa Vogt led the Titans with a match-high 18 kills and was in on seven blocks. Katelyn Malcheski had 15 kills but the Pointers limited the WIAC's Co-Player of the Year to a .034 attack percentage. Mandy Trautmann made a match-best 47 digs for the Titans, while Lexi Thiel had 54 assists.