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URBANA, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers stepped out of both conference and NCAA Division III play Saturday with a pair of 3-0 sweeps at Urbana, beating the host Blue Knights and also West Virginia Wesleyan.
The third-ranked Tigers ran their win streak to 13 straight, all by 3-0 scores, and their overall record to 25-2 heading into the 2010 regular season finale next weekend. The Wittenberg Fall Classic starts with a match-up against No. 1 Juniata in Pam Evans Smith Arena on Friday and continues with matches against Mount St. Joseph and Carnegie Mellon on Saturday.
After West Virginia Wesleyan and Urbana played a tense five-setter to open the tri-match, Wittenberg made short work of West Virginia Wesleyan by set scores of 25-17, 25-17, 25-15. The offense was paced by junior Hillary Monnin (Russia, Ohio/Russia) with 10 kills and a .318 attack percentage and junior Miranda Sagle (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) with eight kills and a .500 attack percentage. Sophomore Hallie Donathan (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) contributed 30 assists and freshman Quin Gable (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) added four aces.
Against the host Blue Knights, the Tigers again prevailed comfortably, this time by set scores of 25-22, 25-14, 25-20. Junior Katie Sumner (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) was strong with 13 kills and a .571 attack percentage, while junior Christine Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) added eight kills and a .350 attack percentage. Senior Amy Cox (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) ran the offense well with 34 assists.
Defensively, junior Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) was strong up front with three solo blocks to go along with three service aces.