The Wittenberg volleyball team will have to follow an unfamiliar path to their customary spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament this weekend when the Tigers travel to Hiram for the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Tigers are not the NCAC regular season champion, hence Wittenberg hits the road Friday for the semifinals and, hopefully, finals of the conference tournament. The honor of hosting the event goes to Hiram for the first time ever after the Terriers went 8-0 in the NCAC, including a 3-1 win over Wittenberg on Oct. 7, the first loss for the Tigers in conference regular season action since 1997.
Wittenberg, which is now 27-4 overall, has been the NCAC Tournament champion every year since 1996, when Ohio Wesleyan dealt the Tigers a 3-2 defeat. The tourney titlist gains an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, and the second-seeded Tigers are hoping to gain entry in that manner for the ninth straight year with a semifinal win over third-seeded Denison on Friday and then a win in the championship match on Saturday against either fourth-seeded Wooster or top-seeded Hiram.
The Tigers have a great deal of momentum heading into the NCAC Tournament. Since the loss to Hiram, Wittenberg has reeled off 12 consecutive wins, including four straight last weekend in the Wittenberg Fall Classic. The Tigers stand sixth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and first in the Great Lakes Region in polling done by the NCAA. Wittenberg has finished the regular season ranked first in the region three straight years, and in two of them went on to advance out of the regional bracket of the NCAA Division III Tournament to compete in the national quarterfinals. Last year, Wittenberg lost in that round to La Verne, 3-0.
In recent weeks, Wittenberg has been dominating, winning nine of their last 12 matches by 3-0 scores, including a lop-sided victory over 23rd ranked Carthage during the Fall Classic. The catalyst on offense has been freshman outside hitterJackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat), who has been amazingly efficient. For the season, Williams has an attack percentage of .369, just a few points off Tiffany Keller's school record of .373 established in 2000.
Williams has had several matches with an attack percentage above .400 as she has become one of the team's primary offensive options. She is one of four outside hitters with more than 200 kills this season, a testament to the Tigers' balance.
The team leader in kills is sophomore outside hitter Emily Bell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) with 294, and she has been almost as good on defense with 454 digs, third-most on the team. Sophomore outside hitter Jan Kehres (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) stands second on the team in both kills and digs, while freshman libero Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) leads with 620 digs.