ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Wittenberg Tigers split a pair of matches on the second day of the Washington University ASICS National Invitational, with a sweep of Ohio Northern followed by a 3-1 loss to the host Bears.
The Tigers ended the weekend with a 2-4 overall record, with all four losses coming against teams ranked in the top 25 nationally by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in its preseason poll. At Washington University, the Tigers were beaten by 21st-ranked Pacific Lutheran on Friday and the seventh-ranked host team on Saturday.
In between, Wittenberg took care of business against the Polar Bears, one of the Tigers' top rivals in the Great Lakes Region each year. Wittenberg won the three sets by convincing margins of 25-16, 25-13, 25-14.
After she was limited to mostly back-row duties against Pacific Lutheran due to a lingering injury, sophomore Kara Seidenstricker (London, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) stepped up against the Polar Bears to pound 14 kills and finish with a .480 attack percentage. She was backed offensively by senior Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North) with seven kills and junior Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Perry) with six kills to go along with 28 assists.
Defensively, freshman libero Libbi Giuliano (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) led the way with 13 digs.
Against Washington University, the Tigers dropped the first two sets by scores of 25-13 and 25-20 before rallying for a 25-21 decision in the third frame. The Bears closed the match out with a 25-13 win in the fourth set to improve to 8-0 on the season.
Seidenstricker again led the Tigers, this time going for a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs, in addition to two solo blocks. Vodopich was tremendous again, finishing with six kills and 32 assists, while Giuliano matched Seidenstricker's team-best dig total.
After the tournament, Seidenstricker and Vodopich were named to the all-tournament team.