Hosted by Wittenberg University
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2002
Quarterfinals
#1 Wittenberg def. #8 Earlham
3-0 (30-14, 30-17, 30-17)
#2 Denison def. #7 Kenyon
3-1 (30-22, 26-30, 30-16, 30-21)
#3 Allegheny def. #6 Ohio Wesleyan
3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-19)
#4 Hiram def. #5 Wooster
3-2 (23-30, 30-14, 30-19, 23-30, 13-15)
Friday, Nov. 8, 2002
Semifinals
5:30 p.m.
#1 Wittenberg (31-7, 8-0 NCAC) def. #4 Hiram (18-14, 5-3 NCAC)
3-0 (30-15, 30-14, 30-22)
The Wittenberg Tigers are the five-time defending champions of this event, and they played like a team poised to make it six in a row with a 3-0 victory over Hiram in the first NCAC semifinal match. The top-seeded Tigers improved to 31-7 with the win and moved into the tournament title match for the eighth straight year.
The Tigers were led by their dynamic sophomore trio of outside hitter Monica McDonald, libero Emilie Schmid and setter Sarah Yuskewich. McDonald, the conference's top offensive player with more than 4.5 kills per game this season, pounded 10 kills and three aces. Yuskewich, who leads the NCAC in assists by a wide margin and ranks among the national leaders in that category, finished with 39 helpers. And Schmid, the team's leader in digs, added 12 more to her season total.
Hiram finished its breakout season with an 18-14 record after finishing tied for third in the regular season standings. The Terriers got several fine performances, especially from freshman middle hitter Shana Toth, the team's leader in kills on this night, and from junior setter Charity Norman, who was tops in assists and digs.
8 p.m.
#2 Denison (22-8, 7-1 NCAC) def. #3 Allegheny (13-21, 5-3 NCAC)
3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-26)
Each game was close, but each turned in favor of the second-seeded Denison Big Red on a few key points and a few key moments. The result was a 3-0 win for Denison and a third consecutive trip to the NCAC tournament championship game. The Big Red have been the regular season and tournament runner-up each of the last two years.
Denison was led on offense by senior middle hitter Becky Turk, who had 13 kills. Senior setter Regann Goodwin was solid as well, distributing 34 assists. Turk and Goodwin were the team leaders on defense as well, contributing nine and 12 digs respectively. The win improved Denison to 22-8 overall following a 7-1 NCAC regular season record. The Big Red's lone defeat was to top-seeded Wittenberg.
Allegheny concludes its season at 13-21 overall and 5-3 in the NCAC. Offensively, the kills were spread out between freshman outside hitter Sarah Miller, junior middle hitter Dhira Dale and sophomore outside hitter Katie Bradshaw, who had 11, 10 and 10 kills respectively. Junior setter Vicki Kajder chipped in with 36 assists and 14 digs. She was joined defensively by senior outside hitter Tiffany Bennett's 14 digs and sophomore defensive specialist Rhiannon Mauk's 14 digs.
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002
Championship Match
2 p.m.
#1 Wittenberg (32-7, 8-0 NCAC) def. #2 Denison (22-9, 7-1 NCAC)
3-0 (30-25, 30-13, 30-19)
The Wittenberg Tigers were the No. 1 seed in the NCAC tournament after winning a sixth consecutive regular season NCAC championship. The No. 3 ranked team in the nation continued its unprecedented run of dominance with a 3-0 victory over second-seeded Denison on Saturday afternoon.
The match was a close one for the first 40 points of the first game, but Wittenberg slowly pulled away down the stretch to win the opener 30-25. In the second game, the Tigers held a 9-7 lead before going on a back-breaking 10-0 run midway through. And the third game became lop-sided quickly before the Big Red made a decent run late.
Wittenberg was paced by Tournament MVP Monica McDonald, a sophomore outside hitter who was simply dominating. She had 17 kills and was a force with her jump serve as well. Junior Lindsay Nelson added 13 kills, senior Teresa Murphy chipped in wtih 16 digs and sophomore setter Sarah Yuskewich distributed 46 assists.
Denison got 35 assists from all-tournament team selection Regann Goodwin, a senior setter, and 11 kills from senior outside hitter Heather Guthrie. Senior middle hitter chipped in with five blocks.
2002 NCAC All-Tournament Team
Monica McDonald, Wittenberg - MVP
Tiffany Keller, Wittenberg
Sarah Yuskewich, Wittenberg
Regann Goodwin, Denison
Danielle D'Orazio, Denison
Charity Norman, Hiram
Vicki Kajder, Allegheny