---

Emily Dixon

The Wittenberg volleyball team won the NCAA Division III Tournament Great Lakes Region championship for the second time in three years last weekend and were rewarded with a trip to sunny Southern California. The Tigers, ranked No. 2 in the nation and sporting a school-record 35-2 overall record, will play the second NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinal match in school history at the University of La Verne near Los Angeles, Calif. at 10 p.m. (EST) Saturday, Nov. 20. 

Wittenberg reached the quarterfinals with a pair of thorough victories in the regional competition hosted by Ohio Northern University last weekend. The top-seeded Tigers pounced on Alma, 3-0, on Friday, and then claimed a 3-0 win over eighth-ranked Mount St. Joseph on Saturday. 

Against Mount St. Joseph, champions of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the match went back-and-forth throughout the first two games before the Tigers kicked things into gear to claim Game 3 with relative ease. The final game scores were 38-36, 30-26 and 30-23. 

Senior middle hitter Kristin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) finished with 15 kills, senior outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) added 13, freshman outside hitter Emily Bell (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) chipped in with 12 and junior middle hitter Emily Dixon (Granville, Ohio/Granville) rounded out a diverse offensive attack with 10. Senior setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) was expert in spreading things around with 47 assists, and she added eight kills, four blocks and 12 digs. Senior libero Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) led the defensive effort with 25 digs, leading four players in double figures in that category. 

Against 18th-ranked and once-beaten Alma in Friday's regional semifinal, the game scores in the 3-0 win were 30-21, 31-29 and 30-21. It was the second straight year that the Tigers, champions of the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament for an eighth straight season, defeated Alma in a second round national tournament match. 

McDonald was the team leader in kills with 15 in the match, followed by Bell with 12 and Fox with 10. Yuskewich, who leads all teams in the NCAA Division III Tournament with 16 assists per game, was outstanding with 49 assists. 

Wittenberg's next foe, La Verne, comes in with a 31-3 record and a No. 3 ranking nationally after claiming the West Region title. La Verne won its 18th Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship in 2004, and the Leopards are shooting for the fourth NCAA Division III national championship - the last one coming in 2001. 

Wittenberg, champion of the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament for the eighth straight year in 2004, is making its 10th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and ninth in a row (1993, '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01, '02, '03, '04). The Tigers are now 9-9 in their national tournament appearances. 

Yuskewich, the conference leader in assists and assists per game for a third straight year in 2004, leads the balanced, experienced Tigers. Yuskewich holds school and conference records for assists in a career and a season. In the two regional tournament matches, Yuskewich had 96 assists, bringing her season total to 1,517 and her career total to 6,176, fourth-most in NCAA Division III history based on records prior to the 2004 season. 

Schmid, the conference leader in digs and digs per game, holds school and conference records for digs in a season and a career, and she added 61 more in two tournament matches. If the season ended today, Schmid would break the NCAA Division III record for digs in a game with 8.77, and she is now just 75 digs shy of the NCAA Division III record of 1,110 digs in a season, set last year by Maryville's Karen Tobias, who also holds the career record by a wide margin. With 2,669 career digs, Schmid stands no worse than fourth all-time in NCAA Division III history, based on the records prior to the 2004 season. 

BREAKING NEWS: Yuskewich was named NCAC Player of the Year for a third straight year and Schmid was named NCAC Libero of the Year for a second straight year. Fox joined them on first-team All-NCAC. McDonald and Dixon claimed second-team all-conference honors. 

The American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region awards also came out Wednesday, and for a third year in a row four Tiger players were named to it. Yuskewich earned the award for a third straight year, while McDonald, Fox and Schmid all were selected for a second time in their collegiate careers. Dixon made honorable mention.