OSHKOSH, Wis – The Edgewood College Eagles participated in the UW-Oshkosh Invite Friday night. They played the UW-Whitewater Warhawks, ranked ninth nationally, and the Millikin Big Blue on Friday evening. The Eagles (2-3) fell to the Warhawks (6-0) in a 3-2 affair, before dropping a 3-0 match to the Big Blue (4-2).

GAME ONE: NO. 9 WHITEWATER WARHAWKS 3, EDGEWOOD COLLEGE 2 (25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-12)
- The two squads were neck and neck in set one until the Warhawks put together a 6-1 run with a pair of blocks to take home the first set of the evening.

- The second frame saw Whitewater push out to a 7-2 lead early, but a 4-1 rally followed by a 7-1 sprint put the Eagles ahead 13-11. The Warhawks carved out an 18-15 advantage, but Edgewood College managed to take home the set with a 10-5 rally the rest of the way.

- The third set played out similarly to the second; Whitewater grabbed a 5-1 edge early, but the Eagles replied in tied to tie things up at six all. A 7-3 sprint would put the Eagles in a 13-9 driver's seat, but the Warhawks knotted up the set 15 all in response. The two teams would continue to jockey for position in the set until the Edgewood College offense put together a 4-1 run to take home the third set.

- The fourth set was a set of small rallies, but the Eagles had the 23-21 lead in the late stages of the set. The Warhawks proved their mettle by responding with a 5-1 run to stay alive in the match. 

- In the decisive fifth frame, Whitewater jumped out to an early 9-3 lead. Edgewood College replied with a 7-3 run to make it 12-10 in the late stages of the match, but the Warhawks finished off the set and match with a 3-2 race to the finish line over the Eagles.

- The battle proved to be a defensive one, with Whitewater winning the hitting percentage battle .136 to .091.

- Ashley Bruehlman led the Eagles offense with 17 kills, while earning 15 digs for a double-double. Taylor Salmon also contributed a double-double with 17 assists and digs.

- Abigail Hoffmann topped the Edgewood College charts with 21 assists, while Lea Bunch did the same with her 25 digs. Abbey Falk manned the net with a team-high four blocks.

- KellyAnn Sotiros produced on offense and defense for the Warhawks, with a match-high 39 assists and 28 digs.

GAME TWO: MILLIKIN BIG BLUE 3, EDGEWOOD COLLEGE 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-21)
- The first set was a flurry of runs, with the Big Blue starting out on a 6-0 run. The Eagles clawed back into the match with a 6-1 run fueled by four attack errors and a pair of aces to make it 11-10 Millikin.  The Big Blue took control of the set with a 7-1 rally afterwards.

- In set two, Edgewood College hung around early before Millikin took advantage of Eagles errors to fuel a 6-1 sprint to take an 11-6 edge. The closest Edgewood College would get the rest of the way was at 22-19, but the Big Blue found the last three points they needed with a pair of kills and a bad Eagles set.

- Edgewood College would jump out to a 5-3 lead in frame three. Millikin would take control of the set with a commanding 12-2 rally shortly thereafter. 8-3 and 5-1 runs in the middle of the set would push the Eagles within 22-20, but the Big Blue took the set and match off of three straight points.

- Millikin outhit Edgewood College.239 to .097 and had 40 assists to the Eagles 21. The Big Blue offense was fueled by their setter duo of Reece Brown and Sandy Brindl combining for 36 assists.

- Jessie Kreder, Tori Stuart, and Kailee Itzenhuiser were the top-three kills leaders for Millikin with 12, nine, and seven kills respectively.  All individual totals were higher than the Edgewood College kills leader

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
- The Eagles fell to 2-13 against UW-Whitewater since 1995 with the hard-fought loss, and dropped to 1-5 against the Big Blue since 1996.

- The meeting between Millikin and Edgewood College was their first since the 2013 season.

- The 106 digs as a team against the Warhawks is tied for 18th on the all-time single match list, last set on November 2, 2010 against Marian University.

UP NEXT
- The Eagles open their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference slate next Wednesday.  They face Concordia University Wisconsin at Mequon, Wis. with first serve scheduled for 7:00 p.m.  The Eagles trail the series 25-30 since 1991.  Edgewood College took the 2021 version of the matchup in 3-2 (15-25, 25-13, 26-24, 16-25, 17-15) fashion at the Edgedome.