Sarah Yuskewich

Monica McDonald

Tiffany Keller

The Tiger volleyball team clinched its sixth straight North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship over the weekend, defeating three straight conference rivals by 3-0 scores. The tourney title came on the heels of a sixth straight outright NCAC regular season title as well, and it earned Wittenberg an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament.

That tournament opens on Thursday with matches at eight regional sites around the nation. One of those is Wittenberg, which will play host to the Great Lakes Regional competition. The Tigers are the No. 1 seed, followed by Mount St. Joseph, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Catholic and Kalamazoo.

In the NCAC tournament last week, the Tigers opened by defeating No. 8 seed Earlham 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. They began the weekend with a semifinal victory over No. 4 seed Hiram as sophomore outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) showed the way with 10 kills and three aces. Sophomore setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) did the job again, contributing 39 assists to her conference-leading total. Sophomore Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) added 12 digs.

The championship match was a close encounter in the first game with Wittenberg edging Denison 30-25. The second was also close until Wittenberg, with a slim 9-7 lead, found another gear and went on a 10-0 rampage midway through the game. The third and final game of the championship was more typical as the Tigers dominated the game and the opponents coming back with a late rally. For the match, McDonald dominated with 17 kills, while junior Lindsay Nelson (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw)checked in with 13 kills, senior Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic) finished with 16 digs and Yuskewich distributed 46 assists.

Individually, Wittenberg had a successful weekend with three players named to the NCAC All-Tournament team. McDonald was named MVP, and she was joined by Yuskewich and senior middle hitter Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) on the team.

Wittenberg, ranked No. 3 in the nation and riding a six-match winning streak, plays the winner of Thursdays first-round match between Catholic and Ohio Northern in a regional semifinal on Friday. The winner of that match advances to the regional championship, a position the Tigers have never advanced beyond previously.