Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg University men's volleyball team has claimed their first ever Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference regular-season title, taking down the Lions of Penn State Altoona 3-1 [25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18] in the final regular season match of the year. In just their fourth year as a varsity program and their first year as members of the AMCC, the Tigers have achieved many milestones, including hitting the 20-win mark by closing out the season at 20-10 overall and 11-3 in AMCC action. After departing the MCVL at the end of the 2018 season, Wittenberg will make their first appearance in the postseason, where they will get the opportunity to host the four-team AMCC Tournament. The Tiger attack was led by Deion Woodson and Isaiah Brock on the afternoon, as Woodson tallied a team-high 14 kills on 27 total attack attempts for a .407 kill percentage. Brock added nine kills on 16 attempts, leading the Red and White in attacking percentage and hitting .562 on the day.
Match Breakdown
Wittenberg jumped out to an early lead over the Lions, logging a .500 attacking percentage in the opening set with 14 kills on 24 attempts, while making just two errors. A kill by Woodson pushed the Wittenberg lead out to 10-6 as the Lions attempted to climb back in and cut the advantage down to within two. The Tigers capitalized on the Altoona service error with the Wittenberg advantage moving to 20-17, as the Red and White would hold on to take the first set 25-18. Wittenberg continued the momentum into the second set, taking yet another 10-6 lead before Altoona worked their way back to bring the match back to even at 14-14. The Tigers regained their lead at 20-17 coming off the kill from Brock. Logging a .267 attacking percentage in the second set, the Tigers would go on to close out the set with a 25-21 win. Altoona worked their way back in the third set, holding Wittenberg to a .171 attacking percentage with 14 kills coming on 35 total attacks. The Tiger offense regained their power in the fourth set, setting down 14 kills on 29 attack attempts for a .414 kill percentage, as the Red and White took the set 25-18.
Who Stood Out
Ashton Sellers tallied nine kills on 23 total attack attempts for a .261 hitting percentage, finishing the day with five blocks. Gabriel Lamar was a presence up front for the Tigers, leading the defensive effort with nine total blocks, while adding six kills. Jackson Tyler recorded eight kills with four blocks to his credit. Ross Russell tallied 23 of the 50 total Tiger assists on the afternoon, while Noah Wissel provided 18 assists to the Wittenberg offense.