Women's Volleyball

2011 NCAA Division III National Champions | 25 NCAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

#7 Wittenberg Returns to Calvin for Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

Posted: Nov 08, 2016

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—#7 Wittenberg women's volleyball is set to travel to Calvin College for the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday night, as the Tigers square off against Bethany College on Thursday at 3:00PM. The Tigers ran through the NCAC tournament for the 10^th consecutive season, as Paco Labrador and company were crowned league champs after downing the DePauw Tigers 3-0 last Saturday.

Wittenberg will open the three-day event with a match on Thursday against Bethany (25-11), the automatic qualifier out of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. The winner will square off against either Ohio Northern (27-3) or Millikin (26-11). In the other half of the bracket, DePauw is set to take on Carnegie Mellon (25-7), the automatic qualifier out of the University Athletic Association, with the winner set to meet either Calvin (27-1) or Pitt.-Bradford (25-5) in the second round on Friday.

Wittenberg fell in the national championship game at Calvin College a year ago to finish the campaign as national runners up. While the regional venue is just the start of the similarities for the 2016 postseason, the Tigers will also square off against a familiar opponent, Bethany College, as the teams did battle at the Mt. Union Invitational to start the season.

Wittenberg handled the Bison 3-1 on September 3 as the Taylor Brown and Camila Quiñones combined for 26 kills in the match. As for the rest of the region, Wittenberg must run through the #1 team in the nation and host, Calvin to advance.

Calvin visited Pam Evans Smith during the Wittenberg Fall Classic, and while the Tigers were unable to hand the Knights, their first loss of 2016, Calvin enters the regional losing its last match in the conference title game against Hope in five sets. The Tigers are also 2-0 in 2016 against NCAC foe DePauw, as Wittenberg has handled the team from Greencastle, Indiana in six-straight sets.

The Tigers look to get their postseason play started off on the right foot behind NCAC Newcomer of the Year Aubrey Cox, and junior first-team all NCAC and NCAC Tournament MVP Maddie Fischer on Thursday. If the Tigers were to advance out of the first round on Thursday, the team would then face the winner of ONU and Millikin in the first semifinal match at 4:30PM on Friday.

Wittenberg currently sits 21-5 in 2016 after finishing undefeated in NCAC play for the sixth straight season. The Tigers 10^th consecutive NCAC tournament crown is the Tigers 22nd overall as a program, which leads the NCAC. In the November 1st AVCA Coaches Poll, the Tigers rank #7 in the nation.

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