GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Wittenberg Tigers won their fourth straight NCAA Division III first round match, cruising past Bluffton in a 3-0 sweep in a match played at Calvin College.
The win, earned by set scores of 25-16, 26-19, 25-20, gave the 10th-ranked Tigers a second round date opposite either the University of Chicago or Buffalo State. Wittenberg will bring a 10-match winning streak into the contest, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, also at Calvin.
The Tigers picked up right where they left off nearly a week earlier, when they earned a seventh straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament title. Wittenberg was efficient offensively, attacking at a .305 clip, led by an outstanding all-around performance by sophomore Kara Seidenstricker (London, Ohio/Jonathan Alder).
Seidenstricker pounded 15 kills and attacked at a .500 percentage. She also was one of five different players to record a service ace in the match and one of six different players to put a mark in the blocks column of the stats sheet.
Senior Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North) added eight kills and sophomore Melissa Emming (West Chester, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) contributed seven. Junior Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Perry) was on her game as well, finishing with five kills, 34 assists and four digs.
Defensively, junior Kiah Murray (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) led the way with 15 digs, while sophomore Katie Zito (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) added eight.
The match was Wittenberg's 50th in 19 all-time NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. The Tigers are now 33-17 overall, including a mark of 11-5 in first-round matches (Wittenberg has received a first round bye three times).