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Anthoni Fazio (No. 29)
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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg University is always a busy place during its annual Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, especially in and around the athletic complex. The 2005 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend may well be the topper.
Wittenberg's men's and women's swimming and diving, football, men's and women's soccer and volleyball teams all are scheduled to host weekend events, while the Tiger men's and women's cross country and field hockey teams will hit the road for the biggest events of their 2005 season on Saturday as well. The men's and women's swimming and diving, men's lacrosse and men's and women's soccer teams all are also scheduled to host alumni games during the weekend, and the football and men's soccer teams are both hosting reunions of past teams.
The centerpiece event of every Homecoming and Reunion Weekend is the football game, scheduled for 1 p.m. at Edwards-Maurer Field. The opponent for the Tigers, who have an uncharacteristic 3-4 overall record, is Ohio Wesleyan. The two teams are tied for second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference with identical 3-1 records.
During that game, the national championship teams of 1962, 1964 and 1975, as well as the Ohio Athletic Conference championships team of 1963, will be recognized. Reunion events are scheduled for members of those three teams throughout the weekend. Also during the football game, the Wittenberg University Athletics Hall of Honor Class of 2005 will be recognized at halftime. Eight of the best athletes in Wittenberg history will be inducted on Friday night during a ceremony at the Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, and they will be recognized by the Tiger faithful on Saturday.
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Caitlin Augustus
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Meanwhile, the Tiger volleyball team, ranked sixth in the nation and first in the Great Lakes Region, will be hosting the Wittenberg Fall Classic on Friday and Saturday. Seven teams will compete over the two-day span, starting with matches at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, and concluding with matches at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. The teams will compete on two courts in Wittenberg's HPER Center.
Along with Wittenberg, the competition includes Baldwin-Wallace, Wooster, Mount Union, Alma, Carnegie Mellon and nationally ranked Carthage. The Tigers head into the weekend with a 23-4 overall record, including a mark of 6-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Wittenberg, which has won eight straight NCAC regular season and tournament championships and has made nine straight appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament, is the preseason favorite in the 2005 conference race.
Wittenberg plays at 4:30 p.m. Friday against Mount Union and returns to the court at 8:30 p.m. for a key match against Carthage. On Saturday, the Tigers are slated to square off against OAC powerhouse Baldwin-Wallace at 11:30 a.m. and then wrap up the tournament with a match against Carnegie Mellon at 3:30 p.m.
The Wittenberg women's and men's soccer teams are next up, scheduled to take the pitch at Edwards-Maurer Field at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively for the biggest games of their seasons. Both Tiger teams are scheduled to play the College of Wooster with the opportunity to make the four-team NCAC Tournament on the line. Win and Wittenberg's teams get into the tournaments - lose and their seasons end prematurely.
Wittenberg's men's soccer team sports a 7-5-5 record, including a mark of 4-2-2 in the NCAC. The Tigers, who are coming off a 7-1 win at Wabash on Wednesday, are one of six teams, including regionally ranked Wooster, jockeying for position in the NCAC Tournament.
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Wittenberg's women's soccer team heads into the regular season finale with a 13-4 overall record, including a mark of 4-3 in the NCAC. Coming off a 2-0 win at Hiram last Saturday, the regionally ranked Tigers are one of five teams, including regionally ranked Wooster, still in the running for the four-team postseason competition.
Both Wittenberg soccer programs are also hosting alumni games on Saturday, and both will be paying special attention to the first teams ever fielded. The men's team is hosting a special reunion for players from the 1967-74 era (the program started in 1967), while the women's program is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams also host Wooster on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. in the HPER Center Natatorium. The Tigers and Scots are longtime rivals, and at last week's annual season-opening NCAC Relays, the two teams were within 10 points of one another in the final standings. Immediately after the meet, an alumni swimming and diving meet is scheduled, kicking off a full evening of festivities.
Wrapping things up, the men's and women's cross country teams will be competing at Denison on Saturday in the annual NCAC Championship meet and the Tiger field hockey squad travels to Oberlin for a key conference match-up. Wittenberg is third in the current NCAC standings, two games behind Oberlin, which has clinched first place and home field advantage for the upcoming NCAC Tournament. The Tigers are 9-7 overall and 7-4 in the NCAC. They can still move into a second-place tie with Wooster with a win at Oberlin.
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