Emily Duh

Sarah Wallace

It was a good weekend to be a Wittenberg Tiger. The field hockey team followed the volleyball squad's lead by winning the first-ever NCAC tournament championship with a 6-2 demolition of Wooster Saturday night at Edwards-Maurer Field. The tourney title capped a remarkable regular season for the Tigers that included a regular season NCAC championship and now an invitation to the NCAA Division III tournament for the fifth time in school history and the first time since 1998.

To the victors go the spoils, and once again it was a Tiger player claiming tournament MVP honors as senior forward Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley), who contributing three goals in the victory over Wooster, earned the honor. Duh had an exceptional game with seven shots and three goals to claim yet another hat trick and run her season totals to 26 goals and 60 points. This wasn't a solo affair, though, and three other Wittenberg players got on to the scoresheet. Sophomore Sarah Wallace (Reston, Va./South Lakes) had four shots and once score, while fellow sophomores Deb Muller (Weston, Conn./The Millbrook School) and Katie Houchens (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) also managed to get one apiece.

Joining Duh on the all-tournament team were senior defensive back Rebecca Russ (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart), senior defensive back Heather House (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), sophomore goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) and sophomore midfielder Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer).

The Tigers have now advanced to the NCAA tournament and will face a stiff challenge at the regional tournament site at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. After a first-round bye, Wittenberg squares off with nationally ranked Williams College on Friday afternoon. The other second-round game at that site pits No. 2 ranked Messiah against nationally ranked Plymouth State. The winners play on Saturday for the right to advance to the NCAA Final Four on Nov. 23-24 at Springfield College in Massachusetts.