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MEADVILLE, Pa. — The Wittenberg Tigers put the finishing touches on another tremendous regular season with a 3-0 sweep of host Allegheny. The victory pushed the Tigers' overall record to 29-3, but more importantly it capped the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) slate with a perfect 16-0 mark.
Wittenberg, ranked sixth nationally and second in the Great Lakes Region, has now won 27 straight NCAC regular season matches since a loss to Hiram in October 2010. The 16-0 record is Wittenberg's 14th undefeated conference mark since joining the NCAC in 1989 as the Tigers have now won six straight regular season titles and 17 in the last 20 years. Along the way, the Tigers have compiled a sparkling record of 193-6 since winning their first conference regular season crown in 1992, including a record of 154-2 since the start of the 1998 campaign.
Allegheny, which has not beaten Wittenberg since 1996 and is now 7-32 against the Tigers all-time, dropped to 11-22 overall and 4-12 in the NCAC. The Gators will finish seventh in the final nine-team standings, while Wittenberg has earned the right to host the NCAC Tournament Nov. 4-5 as the regular season champion.
The Tigers beat the Gators by set scores of 25-12, 25-23, 25-17. The offense was paced by junior Jessica Batanian (Sylvania, Ohio/Notre Dame), who pounded a match-high 12 kills from our outside hitter position. She was backed ably by sophomore Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North) with nine kills from her middle hitter spot.
Freshman Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Perry) dished out a match-high 20 assists to go along with three aces. Defensively, junior Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) led with 23 digs, while Batanian contributed 14.