SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg University volleyball team hosts its annual Wittenberg Invitational this weekend, featuring the usual array of high-quality competition. Eight teams will take to the court beginning at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, with championship and third-place matches scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. The teams will compete on two courts in Wittenberg's HPER Center.

Along with host Wittenberg, competing in this year's invitational are Calvin, Carnegie Mellon, Mount Union, Hope, Case Western Reserve, Franklin and Ohio Northern. Three of these teams are nationally ranked in the latest NCAA Division III American Volleyball Coaches Association poll: Carnegie Mellon (19), Ohio Northern (16) and Wittenberg (8). All of them are at least ranked among the top 10 in their respective regions.

"We are thrilled about hosting a tournament of this caliber," said Wittenberg Head Coach Connie Surowicz, now in her ninth season with the Tigers. "The level of competition will be very intense, and we are excited to see how we will stack up."

Wittenberg has two more home invitational tournaments on the schedule this season, starting with the Wittenberg National Invitational. Scheduled to take place on Friday, Oct. 11, and Saturday, Oct. 12, that competition will feature Baldwin-Wallace, Rochester Institute of Technology, 20th-ranked Nazareth, Thomas More and the host Tigers, winners of the last five North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. Then on Friday, Nov. 1, and Saturday, Nov. 2, Wittenberg hosts a new competition called the Tiger National Quad that will bring in nationally ranked Mount St. Joseph, Juniata and Washington University (Mo.), ranked Nos. 5, 3 and 1 in the latest national poll.

The Tigers head into tonight's game at Earlham with an 11-4 record, including a perfect 2-0 mark in the NCAC. In their first three tournaments of the regular season, the Tigers were second at Mt. St. Joseph, second at NCAA Division II West Florida and second at Washington University, where they defeated three ranked opponents.


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