Springfield, Ohio — The fifth-ranked Wittenberg University volleyball team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 16th consecutive year and the 17th time in school history. The Tigers open their quest for the first national title in program history with a first round match against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at Calvin College.
The Tigers' contest against Rose-Hulman (24-8), champion of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, is one of four first-round matches scheduled for the opening day of the Regional Tournament hosted by Calvin, the defending national champion. Winners will advance to the regional semifinals on Friday, Nov. 11, and the championship match is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12. All match times will be announced later today.
The Regional Tournament at Calvin is loaded with four nationally ranked teams in an eight-team bracket. In addition to Wittenberg's match against Rose-Hulman, No. 9 Heidelberg University (31-6) will play Geneva College (27-8) at 12:30 p.m., Otterbein University (25-5) takes on No. 15 Hope College at 5:30 p.m., and St. Norbert College (26-7) squares off with No. 1 Calvin (31-0) at 8 p.m. on the opening day.
The winner of the regional bracket will advance to the national tournament with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals set for the weekend of Nov. 18-20, at No. 2 ranked Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Wittenberg's best performance in the NCAA Division III Tournament is three straight national semifinal appearances between 2005 and 2007.
Wittenberg advanced to the 2011 NCAA Division III Tournament by virtue of the North Coast Athletic Conference's (NCAC) automatic berth after winning the NCAC regular season and tournament titles. The Tigers, who compiled records of 31-3 overall and 16-0 in the NCAC, have been ranked in the top six nationally all season, and Wittenberg has been particularly impressive against top competition, posting an 8-3 record against teams that earned berths in the national competition.
The Tigers enter the tournament with a head of steam, winners of six straight matches, culminating in an NCAC Tournament championship match victory over Hiram, which made the NCAA competition as an at-large team, on their home floor on Saturday, Nov. 5. Wittenberg has won 17 NCAC regular season titles, including the last six, and 17 NCAC Tournament titles, including the last five, in the last 20 years. The Tigers will take a 27-match NCAC regular season win streak into the 2012 campaign.
Wittenberg is making its 17th NCAA appearance and 16th in a row (1993-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09-10-11). The Tigers have reached the NCAA Division III Tournament Round of 16 a total of 10 times in school history, the national quarterfinals five of the last nine years, and the national semifinals three times. Wittenberg has a 24-16 (.600) overall record in the national tournament.
Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Erin Pence