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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg University volleyball team concludes the 2004 regular season on Oct. 29 and 30 by hosting Wittenberg Volleyball Invitational III. Five other schools - Muskingum, Wooster, Mount Union, Franklin and Capital - will join Wittenberg to comprise a solid six-team tournament on two courts in the university's HPER Center.
The matches start at 4:30 p.m. Friday as the host Tigers and Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouse Capital square off on Court 1. Additional Friday matches are slated for 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., at which time Wittenberg, ranked No. 2 in the nation in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, takes on Mount Union. The tournament continues Saturday with matches on both courts at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Wittenberg will face Franklin at 12:30 p.m. and Muskingum at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Tigers are putting the finishing touches on the most successful regular season in school history. A core group of five seniors has put everything together this year and has led the team to an astounding 27-2 overall record, including a mark of 8-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, good for a 10th straight regular season championship. Wittenberg will host the NCAC Tournament for an eighth straight year on Nov. 5-6, and the Tigers are the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region, which includes two other programs ranked in the top eight nationally. Wittenberg's record against teams ranked in the current top 25 is 7-2, with the only two losses coming on the opposing team's home court in the final match of a weekend tournament.
Among those seniors, setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) and libero Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) continue to break records. Yuskewich holds the school and conference records for assists in a season and a career, as well as the school record for blocks. Now she has moved into the top 10 in the NCAA Division III record books for assists in a career, two years after breaking the record for assists in a season with 2,125. Schmid holds the school and conference records for digs in a career, and she is on pace to shatter both marks for assists in a season in 2004. She has moved into the top 10 in the NCAA Division III record books for career digs.
Four of the five visiting teams in the tourney have posted impressive winning records in 2004, and the one team without a winning record, Franklin (9-13), has been on a roll of late with a 5-1 record in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Mount Union (15-11) and Muskingum (15-11) have played well this season in the rugged OAC. Capital is the team most likely to push the Tigers - at 22-6 the Crusaders are enjoying a great season and are one of the top three seeds in the upcoming OAC Tournament. Capital pushed No. 6-ranked Ohio Northern to five games recently before losing and are listed in the "others receiving votes" category of the AVCA poll. Wooster, the only team Wittenberg isn't playing in this tournament, is one of four teams qualified for the NCAC Tournament as the Scots are currently sporting records of 6-2 in the conference and 19-7 overall.
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