Nine months removed from their first-ever NCAA Division III championship, the Wittenberg volleyball team made a triumphant return to the court with a 3-1 win over visiting Wartburg on the opening night of the Courtyard by Marriott Wittenberg National Invitational.
The win by the new-look defending national champions followed a hard-fought 3-2 win by Whitworth over Trinity (Texas) in the tournament's opening match. The four teams will each play two matches on Saturday, starting with Wittenberg against Whitworth at 10 a.m. and ending with the Tigers taking on Trinity at 5:30 p.m.
The Tigers started and ended their match with a flourish. Thanks in part to a boisterous home crowd, Wittenberg came out inspired to pick up a comfortable first-set win by a 25-13 margin. However, after winning the second set 25-20, the Tigers found themselves in a hole in the third and were unable to complete the rally, falling 27-25.
Wittenberg trailed early in the fourth set as well before ending the match on a 12-3 streak that broke open a 13-13 tie and propelled the Tigers to a 25-16 victory. Sophomore setter Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Perry) closed the match with four straight service points, including the last of her team-high three aces on match point.
Offensively, Wittenberg was paced by senior Jessica Batanian (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame), who pounded a career-best 18 kills to go along with 13 digs and three blocks defensively. Freshman Kara Seidenstricker (London, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) added 14 kills on an impressive .414 attack percentage, while also contributing 18 digs and two blocks.
Also of note offensively was the play of junior Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North), who added eight kills and two blocks, and freshman Melissa Emming (West Chester, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame), who finished with six kills.
The defense was spearheaded as usual by the stellar play of senior libero Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas). She finished with 28 digs to go along with five assists. Five different players finished with at least eight digs in the match as Wartburg was limited to a .068 attack percentage.