Erin Slattery

TIFFIN, Ohio - Playing before a charged-up home crowd in the first match of the two-day Heidelberg Quad, the Wittenberg Tigers came up just short in a battle between two of the top teams in the Great Lakes Region.

Wittenberg, ranked seventh in the nation, dropped a 3-2 decision to 17th-ranked Heidelberg, which recently broke into the national rankings for the first time in school history. The loss dropped Wittenberg to 19-4 overall, while the Student Princes improved to 23-4.

The Tigers got off to a tremendous start, banging out 12 kills in 34 attempts en route to a 25-11 Set 1 victory. After Heidelberg, which recently upset nationally ranked Ohio Northern, bounced back with a 25-19 win in the second set, Wittenberg jumped back in front with a 25-17 win in the third set.

The fourth set is when the tide turned. Wittenberg led by as many as five points in the early going and served for the set at 25-24. However, Heidelberg rallied to win the last three points of the fourth set, and the Student Princes carried the momentum into the deciding frame, winning the first four points of Set 5. Wittenberg never recovered in a 15-10 Set 5 loss.

For the match, Wittenberg attacked at a .227 clip, compared to Heidelberg's .228. The Tigers finished with 89 digs, 55 kills and six team blocks - the Student Princes responded with 88 digs and six team blocks. The difference was on offense as Heidelberg put four players in double figures in kills en route to 67 total, good for a 12-kill edge.

Individually, Wittenberg was paced offensively by sophomore Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) with 16 kills against just two errors on 45 attack attempts, good for a .311 percentage. She added 11 digs.

Sophomore Catherine Farny (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) added 11 kills and a .300 attack percentage, while senior setters Erin Slattery (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) and Kendall Obreza (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall) combined for 43 assists. Slattery added 11 digs, while freshman Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) led in that department with 25 digs to go along with nine assists.

The Tigers return to Heidelberg Saturday for a pair of challenging matches, first against Webster College and then against nationally ranked Carthage.