CHICAGO, Ill. -- The University of Chicago women's volleyball team continues the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on Saturday with a pair of matchups against top-5 teams. The Maroons will take on #5 La Verne at 11 AM before playing #3 UW-Oshkosh at 3 PM. * UChicago enters Saturday with a 4-3 record on the season after opening the UW-Oshkosh Invite with a 3-2 win over #8 Hope on Friday night.
* Friday's five-set win over #8 Hope was the first top-10 win for the Maroons since they took down #9 UW-Whitewater in 2022. It was also the 14th top-25 win for Head Coach Mitchell McPartland which ranks as the second-most in school history.
* The Maroons recorded a reverse sweep in the five-set win over Earlham after dropping the first two sets. The reverse sweep was the first for a UChicago team since their win over Texas Lutheran in the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
* This weekend will be the first time since 2023 that UChicago has played three top-8 teams in three consecutive matches. The Maroons lost to #7 Calvin (1-3), #3 UW-Oshkosh (2-3), and #2 Hope (2-3) in those three games.
* Ellie Maxwell recorded double-doubles in three of the first four games of her college career, and she is averaging 18.3 assists and 9.0 digs per match this season.
* Diya Mishra is closing in on a milestone with 944 career kills. She is just 56 kills away from being the 13th player in school history with 1,000 career kills. Mishra is averaging 20 kills and 18 digs over the past two matches as she has dominated on both offense and defense.
* Thalita Marangon recorded 31 digs in the five-set win over Earlham. She became the first Maroon to record 30+ digs in a match since Kennedy Cheung against Case Western in 2023.
* Olivia Zamis tallied 7 blocks in her collegiate debut in the 3-1 win over Greenville. She is the first Maroon with 7+ blocks in a match since Jillian Amsler in 2023.
* After taking on #5 La Verne and #3 UW-Oshkosh, the Maroons will travel back North to Minnesota to take on a trio of MIAC teams next weekend.

#5 LA VERNE NOTES: 

* La Verne enters the weekend at 7-0 and #5 ranking in the latest AVCA poll, climbing two spots from their previous ranking. 
* The Leopards have remained perfect throughout their first two weeks of play, and they pulled off a reverse sweep on Friday night of #3 UW-Oshkosh to move to 7-0.
* Senior Mya Ray leads the offense for La Verne with 97 kills on the year. She's averaging the 9th best kills per set percentage with 4.62 in Division III and was recently named the SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week after achieving double-doubles in two of the Leopards three wins last weekend. 
* Setter Malia Capistrano has had a great start to the year with already 90 assists on the season. The junior is averaging 5 assists per set is currently fifth in the SCIAC with her total assists on the year, playing the least amount of games in the top 5. 
* Following Saturday's match with the Maroons, La Verne will face conference opponent Whittier College on Friday night. 

#3 UW-OSHKOSH NOTES: 

* UW-Oshkosh is on a roll this season as they've started the year 9-1, taking down three Top 25 opponents in dominant fashions. 
* The Titans are currently #3 on the latest AVCA DIII poll after coming into the preseason poll at #6. Their 9-0 start is their second best since 2023.
* UW-Oshkosh suffered their first loss on Friday night with a five-set loss to #5 La Verne. 
* Samantha Perlberg has been fantastic for the Titans. The most recent AVCA Player of the Week, Perlberg is averaging 5.40 points per set and 4.90 kills per set. She has accumulated 142 kills on the season so far and is sitting a 27.9 attack percentage. 
* Grace Juergens has also been great on the offensive line. The 5'9 junior is second on the team in kills with 119, beating out the next closest player by over 50 kills. Juergens has also been stellar in the back line with 92 digs. 
* Following Saturday's match with the Maroons, the Titans will head to Menomonie, Wisconsin to face UW-Stout in WIAC play on Wednesday night

SERIES HISTORY:

* This will be the first-ever matchup between UChicago and La Verne. 
* The Titans lead the all-time series 15-5 over the Maroons.
* UChicago has dropped their past five matches against UW-Oshkosh with the last win for the Maroons coming back in 2018.
* The Maroons were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by the Titans last season with a four-set loss in the Round of 32.

CAREER STATS RECORDS:

* Hillary Cheung - 13th in Assists (765)
* Diya Mishra - 3rd in Assisted Blocks (245), 9th in Total Blocks (300), and 10th in Hitting Percentage (.261)

NCAA DIVISION III ACTIVE LEADERS:

* Diya Mishra - 8th in Blocks (300), 15th in Blocks/Set (0.86), and 26th in Kills (944)