SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The fifth-ranked Wittenberg University volleyball team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 20th consecutive year and the 21st time in school history. The Tigers will open their quest for the program’s second NCAA Division III championship with a first-round match against Bluffton University at 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, on the campus of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.
The Tigers' contest against Bluffton, the champion of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, is one of four first-round matches scheduled for the opening day of the regional tournament hosted by Juniata. Winners will advance to the regional semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 14, and the championship match is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 15.
Click here for interactive NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament bracket
The opening day of the competition at Juniata features matches between the host Eagles, ranked No. 2 in the country currently, and Franciscan, the University of Mary Washington and Case Western Reserve, Heidelberg and McDaniel, and the Tigers against Bluffton. All matches will be played in Juniata’s Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center.
The winner of Wittenberg's first-round match against Bluffton will square off against the winner of the Heidelberg/McDaniel match at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. That match will be followed by a second round match at 6 p.m. featuring the winner of the Juniata/Franciscan match against the winner of the Mary Washington/Case Western match. The winners of Saturday's second round matches will play at 3 p.m. Sunday for the right to advance to the national quarterfinals.
The winner of the regional bracket will advance to the national tournament, with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals set for the weekend of Nov. 19-21, at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Wittenberg advanced to the 2015 NCAA Division III Tournament by virtue of the North Coast Athletic Conference's (NCAC) automatic berth after winning the NCAC regular season and tournament titles. The Tigers, who compiled records of 24-2 overall and 8-0 in the NCAC, have been ranked in the top 10 nationally all season. Wittenberg has a 4-2 record against teams that earned berths in the national competition.
The Tigers enter the tournament with a head of steam, winners of nine straight matches, culminating in an NCAC Tournament championship match victory over DePauw on Saturday, Nov. 7. Wittenberg has won 21 NCAC regular season titles, including the last 10, and 21 NCAC Tournament titles, including the last nine, since 1992. The Tigers will take winning streaks of 59 straight NCAC regular season matches and 22 straight NCAC Tournament matches into the 2016 campaign.
Wittenberg is making its 21st NCAA appearance and 20th in a row (1993-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09-10-11-12-13-14-15). The Tigers have reached the NCAA Division III Tournament Round of 16 a total of 14 times in school history, the national quarterfinals six of the last 13 years, the national semifinals four times and the championship game for the first time in 2011. Wittenberg has a 36-19 (.655) overall record in the national tournament.
Written By: Ryan Maurer