ST. LOUIS, MO. - The Wittenberg Tigers went into the 2006 Washington University National Invitational as the highest ranked team in a field loaded with potential championship contenders. At the end of two intense days of action, the results were mixed for the Tigers as they came away with a third-place finish out of five teams.
Wittenberg, the second-ranked team in the nation in the first two American Volleyball Coaches Association polls, is now 5-3 after going 2-2 in the WU National Invitational. The Tigers now head into a busy week that includes North Coast Athletic Conference matches against Kenyon and Denison and the second annual Border Battle, featuring four top teams each from Michigan and Ohio.
On Friday, the Tigers won a key Great Lakes Region contest, 3-0 against Ohio Northern. In winning for the third straight year in the regular season against the Polar Bears, this time by convincing game scores of 30-26, 30-24, 30-16, the Tigers picked up strong offensive performances from sophomores Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat) and Jessica Kimble (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont)combined for 23 kills and the trio of juniors Emily Bell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) and Jan Kehres (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) and sophomore Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) finished with a combined 53 digs.
Fender was tremendous in the nightcap Friday, posting a career-high 37 digs, but the Tigers' rally from an early 0-2 deficit came up just short. Game scores in the 3-2 loss to Central (Iowa) were 26-30, 25-30, 30-23, 30-16, 13-15.
On Saturday, Wittenberg opened with a 3-1 victory over Pacific in which all 20 players on the roster saw action. Freshman Brittany Gordon (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall) finished with a game-high 14 digs while junior Caitlin Augustus (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) added nine kills and four blocks. Game scores were 30-26, 31-29, 28-30, 30-20.
The Tigers rounded things out with a 3-0 loss to host Washington University by game scores of 30-22, 30-18, 30-22. Bell and Kehres each had nine kills and Fender finished with 21 digs, but the fifth-ranked Bears were too much on their own home court. Williams and freshman setter Erin Slattery (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) were chosen for the all-tournament team.