Tigers Set To Make 26th NCAA Tournament Appearance
The Wittenberg women's volleyball team earned their 26th bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships over the weekend, clinching their 25th North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 3-0 sweep of the College of Wooster Fighting Scots [25-19, 25-20, 25-10].
The Tigers wrapped up the 2021 campaign with a 21-8 overall record, including a 7-1 conference record. The Red and White have won four of their last five matches to close out the season, which includes straight set wins in both the semifinal and final matches of the NCAC Tournament. Wittenberg owns a 10-8 record in matches played on the road or on neutral courts so far this season.
The Tigers have put together an offense, averaging nearly 14 kills per set as the Red and White have tallied a .229 hitting percentage on the season. Wittenberg is led by senior Katie Hiestand coming off an All-NCAC Tournament MVP performance, amassing over 300 kills and 410 digs this season. In her first full season with the Tigers, Tyler Linkhart tallied the team-high kills at 343 for a .248 hitting percentage on the season. The Wittenberg offense is facilitated by Mack Ricketts with 830 assists to go along with her 63 service aces.
Wittenberg will travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. for their third consecutive NCAA regional round appearance, where the Tigers will take on St. John Fisher in round one. This will be the first match-up between Wittenberg and St. John Fisher. Wittenberg has made a home away from home at the Grand Rapids Regional, as the Tigers get set to make their 10th trip to Calvin University in NCAA postseason action. Wittenberg made their first appearance at the Grand Rapids regional in 2006 and has returned back for opening round action on what is to become the 8th separate occasion. The Tigers have captured two NCAA National Runner-Up finishes back in 2015 and 2017, and began their historic 2011 National Championship run from the Grand Rapids Regional.
Regional competition will be Friday-Sunday, Nov. 12-14, at all sites except Atlanta, Grand Rapids and Eau Claire, where competition will be Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 11-13. In the 2019 final, Johns Hopkins defeated Emory to win its first NCAA volleyball championship in school history. The 2020 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.