Christine Simpson

HIRAM/OBERLIN, Ohio - For the first time in two years, the Wittenberg Tigers were extended beyond three sets in a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season match. By day's end, however, the Tigers had put the finishing touches on a difficult two-day, three-match conference road trip with a 3-0 record after wins over Allegheny, Hiram and Oberlin.

In running their NCAC regular season win streak to 58 in a row, dating back to 2005, the Tigers moved to 13-3 overall and 9-0 in the NCAC in 2009. The record is 63 in a row by Wittenberg between 1997 and 2005.

On Saturday, the Tigers fell behind at Hiram before rallying for a 3-2 win by scores of 25-27, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 15-12. It was the first time since Earlham took a set against Wittenberg in 2007 that the Tigers had been unable to register a 3-0 win in either NCAC regular season or tournament action.

Leading the charge against the Terriers was junior Amy Cox (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) with 15 kills and six blocks. Sophomore Catherine Farny (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) and senior Kate Snead (Westerville, Ohio/South) added 14 kills apiece, while Snead attacked at an extremely efficient .481 clip.

In addition to Cox's six blocks, the Tiger defense got a lift from sophomore Christine Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) with eight blocks and freshman Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) with 20 digs.

The Tigers capped the road trip at Oberlin, which extended Wooster to five sets earlier in the week on its home floor. Wittenberg came through with a 3-0 win, however, by scores of 25-22, 25-14, 25-17.

Cox was again high in kills with six, followed closely by sophomore Katie Sumner (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson), senior Katherine Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) and sophomore Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) with five each. Defensively, Gilene led in digs again with 17, while sophomore Miranda Sagle (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) contributed three blocks.

Wittenberg returns to NCAC action Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Denison. That is followed by the second NCAC Power Weekend of the 2009 season, at Earlham Oct. 17-18.