SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers overwhelmed visiting Allegheny, 3-0, to advance to their 17th straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament championship match.
The fifth-ranked and No. 1-seeded Tigers improved to 31-2 overall after posting a 16-0 NCAC regular season record. Allegheny, which was the No. 4 seed, saw its season end with a record of 15-16.
Wittenberg raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, trailing just briefly early in each of the second and third sets. The final scores were 25-11, 25-14, 25-18.
Among statistical differences in the match were stark, starting with a 10-1 blocks advantage for the Tigers. Senior middle hitter Jessica Kimble (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont) led with four blocks, including three solos.
Wittenberg's attack percentage was .327, compared to .016 for Allegheny. Senior right-side hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat) led both teams with 11 kills and an attack percentage of .400, while Kimble added nine kills and an attack percentage of .318. Junior middle hitter Kate Snead (Westerville, Ohio/South) added seven kills on 12 swings against no errors for a tremendous .583 attack percentage, while freshman right-side hitter Christine Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) added seven kills on 13 swings against no errors for an attack percentage of .538.
Also of note was the defensive play of junior outside hitter Leslie Clark (Marion, Ohio/Harding), who finished with a career-high 29 digs. Senior libero Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) added 18 digs - no Allegheny player finished with more than 10 digs in the match.
The Tigers will shoot for their second straight NCAC Tournament title at 2 p.m. Saturday. A win would give Wittenberg its 12th NCAC Tournament crown in the last 13 years.