SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - For the first time in more than a decade, the Wittenberg Tigers did not stand at midcourt with the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship trophy. That honor went to the Hiram Terriers after a scintillating 3-2 victory at Wittenberg's HPER Center.
The win gained the Terriers an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, a year after Hiram made its first appearance in the national tourney. Hiram, the No. 2 seed in the NCAC Tournament after finishing second in the regular season with a 14-2 record, will carry a 32-3 overall record into the national tournament.
Wittenberg, the No. 1 seed in the NCAC Tournament after a perfect 16-0 run through the conference's first-ever double-round robin regular season schedule, dropped to 31-7 overall. The Tigers, who have made 10 consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, will have to sweat out life on the national tournament "bubble" for about 24 hours. The tournament selection committee will announce its selections late Sunday night.
The final statistics bear out just how even these two teams were on this day, even after the Tigers had won the two regular season match-ups convincingly. Wittenberg won the first and third games 32-30 and 30-15, but the Terriers were up to the challenge each time, rallying for a 30-23 win Game 2, a 32-30 win in Game 4 and then pulling out a 15-13 victory in the fifth and final game.
The stats also indicate a relatively disjointed affair, with attack percentages of .193 for Hiram and .197 for Wittenberg, and the Tigers finished with more digs in the match overall. The difference between the two teams would be quite hard to pinpoint - it came down a few bounces and few timely plays by the Terriers, who rallied from a 26-24 deficit in Game 4 and won four of the final six points after the two teams were tied 11-11 in Game 5.
Making many of those plays was Hiram senior middle hitter Michelle Kozempa, who was named NCAC Tournament MVP and conference Player of the Year. She led the Terriers with 13 kills on a team-high 44 swings, and she added two block assists. Junior setter Megan Taylor was solid, distributing a match-high 44 assists, and a balanced defensive effort was spearheaded by senior libero Jill Howard with 24 digs.
Wittenberg, which had a 25-match NCAC Tournament win streak snapped, was paced offensively by junior outside hitter Jan Kehres, who had 16 kills. Junior outside hitter Emily Bell added 15 kills, while junior setter Sarah Matesich played well despite an injury to finish with 32 assists. Defensively, sophomore libero Laura Fender showed the way with a match-high 36 digs, while Kehres added 33.