GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Wittenberg and Calvin have met 24 times on the volleyball court in a rivalry that dates back to 1994, with each team capturing 12 victories. Amazingly, the two teams have met in the NCAA Division III Tournament eight times - and that's where the Knights have the edge, winning five times, including a 3-2 nailbiter of an NCAA Division III Tournament regional championship match.
The Tigers and Knights have met in the regional title tilt four straight years, including three in a row on Calvin's home floor. Each of the last two years, Wittenberg has pushed the top-ranked Knights to the brink before coming up just short in the fifth and final frame.
The win moved Calvin, the national champion in 2010 and the national runner-up in 2012, into the national quarterfinals, to be played at Hope on Thursday, Nov. 21. Tenth-ranked Wittenberg, the 2011 national champion, saw its season conclude with a 25-9 overall record.
Calvin, which was also pushed to five sets by Mount Union in the second round, won the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-22. The Tigers responded by jumping out to a 21-16 lead late in the third set and then hanging on, culminating with a kill by sophomore Kara Seidenstricker (London, Ohio/Jonathan Alder).
Wittenberg trailed in the fourth set by as many as four points before rallying, staving off a match point at 24-23 by winning three straight, including two on Seidenstricker kills. The rally ended there, however, as Calvin jumped on top quickly in the fifth set to earn a 15-9 decision and finish the match.
Seidenstricker broke a school record that she had set just one day earlier in a 3-1 win over Chicago, pounding 25 kills on 46 swings for a phenomenal .457 attack percentage. Senior Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North) was right behind, posting the third-highest kill total in the 25-point rally scoring era. She contributed 22 kills and a .395 attack percentage.
Seidenstricker also led the Tigers in digs with 19, leading a quartet of Wittenberg players in double figures defensively. Junior libero Kiah Murray (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) added 14 digs, followed by sophomore Katie Zito (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) and junior Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Perry) with 12 apiece.
Vodopich led both teams with 53 assists in the match, and she was joined by Behling and Zito with three blocks each.