Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg University men's volleyball team opened the second day of action at the Jim Coleman Memorial Invitational with a 3-0 win against the Muskies of Lakeland University. The Tigers returned to the court in the afternoon, facing off against No. 9 UC-Santa Cruz battling the Banana Slugs, falling 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-18). The annual Jim Coleman Memorial Invitational brought in seven Division III volleyball teams for 13 matches at Pam Evans Smith Arena over two days.
Match One Breakdown
Wittenberg battled back and forth with the Muskies throughout the opening set, posting a .250 hitting percentage. The Red and White tallied 16 kills on 32 total attack attempts with just eight errors in the first set, posting the highest swing percentage between the teams in the match. Deion Woodson led the Wittenberg offense with 18 kills and eight digs, adding two services aces and a block. Gabriel Lamar recorded a .500 attacking percentage, planting seven kills on 10 attempts with just two errors. Lamar added three blocks and a dig to his total by the end of the first match. The duo of Ross Russell and Noah Wissel kept the offense flowing for the Tigers to start the day, as Russell tallied 20 assists against the Muskies and Wissel recorded 15 assists with seven digs.
Match Two Breakdown
Taking on the No. 9 Banana Slugs of UC-Santa Cruz in their final match of the Jim Coleman Memorial Invitational, the Tigers fell in a hard-fought battle, 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-18). The first set saw Wittenberg outswing UC-Santa Cruz .250 to .222. Woodson led the Wittenberg attack for the second straight match, putting down 12 kills while adding six digs. Isaiah Brock and Collin Buelow each added nine kills apiece, along with an ace and four blocks against the Banana Slugs. Putting the Wittenberg offense into motion, Russell recorded 18 assists with six digs and two aces, while Wissel tallied 14 assists with five digs. The Tigers clocked a .156 kill percentage in the match with 40 kills on 109 total attempts.
All-Classic Team
Wittenberg - #1 Isaiah Brock
Carthage - #9 Matt Slivinski
Lakeland - #16 Desmond Williams
Lancaster Bible - #13 Kole Horst
Marymount - #15 Remington Shahan
MSOE - #9 Quin Krisik
MSJ - #4 Zack Storc
UC Santa Cruz - #8 Raymond Cascio
UP NEXT
Wittenberg will return to action at Pam Evans Smith Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 PM hosting the Raiders of Mount Union.