Kimmie Dyer is among the Tigers' leaders in kills and digs in 2009.

Springfield, Ohio — The No. 11-ranked Wittenberg University volleyball team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 14th consecutive year and the 15th time in school history. The Tigers open their quest for the first national title in program history with a first round match at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Hope College against 14th-ranked Calvin College.

The Tigers' contest against Calvin is the third of four first-round matches scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12, at Hope. Winners will advance to the regional semifinals at 4:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, and the championship match at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14.

The Great Lakes Regional figures to be a challenging bracket again in 2009. The tournament starts Thursday with a match between 19th-ranked Heidelberg College and North Central College at 12:30 p.m., followed by Bluffton College against sixth-ranked Ohio Northern University at 3 p.m., Calvin against Wittenberg at 5:30 p.m. and fifth-ranked Hope against Lakeland University at 8 p.m.

The winner of the regional bracket will advance to the national tournament with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals set for Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 19-21, at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. Wittenberg reached the national semifinals three straight years between 2005 and 2007.

Wittenberg advanced to the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament by virtue of the North Coast Athletic Conference's (NCAC) automatic berth after finishing off their third straight perfect conference regular season with a 3-1 win over Hiram in the NCAC Tournament championship match on Nov. 7. The Tigers, who compiled records of 24-7 overall and 16-0 in the NCAC, have been ranked in the top 11 nationally all season, although Wittenberg is just 1-7 against teams that earned berths in the national competition.

Wittenberg is making its 15th NCAA appearance and 14th in a row (1993-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09). The Tigers have reached the NCAA Division III Tournament Round of 16 nine times in school history, the national quarterfinals five of the last seven years, and the national semifinals three times. Wittenberg has a 22-14 (.611) overall record in the national tournament.

Written by: Ryan Maurer
Photos by: Erin Pence

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