MIAA/NCAC Challege Opening Night: Tigers Topple No. 3 Calvin

Photo Credit: John Coffman
Photo Credit: John Coffman

Holland, MI – The Wittenberg Tiger Women's Volleyball team took down the nationally-ranked No. 3 Knights from Calvin College, 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-13, 25-19). In what has become a fierce non-conference rivalry between the two perennial NCAA Division III power houses, Wittenberg and Calvin have now faced-off 33 times with Wittenberg taking 15 wins in the series. The Wittenberg offense was powered by Sophomore Kendall Robertson and Junior Tyler Linkhart. Robertson tallied 19 kills on 35 total attacks with just two error, hitting .486. Linkhart added 18 kills on 37 swings and three errors for a .405 kill marker. Katie Hiestand added double-digit kills for the Tiger offense with 13 kills and 12 digs. Wittenberg put together a hitting marker of .283 as a unit, posting 64 kills on 166 total attempts, holding Calvin to a .216 kill clip with just 54 kills.

  • Mack Ricketts added four kills and 16 digs to go along with her 47 of Wittenberg's 59 assists.
  • Ava Hampton provided a team-leading 20 digs.
  • Cam Colahan and Linkhart added double-digit digs on the defensive side of the net for Wittenberg.
  • Ricketts (5), Robertson (4), Laney Yoder (3) and Linkhart (2) each assisted on seven of the eight team blocks. Linkhart got up for the lone solo block of the night.

With this win, Wittenberg improves to 4-1 on the season. The Tigers return to action for two more matches on Saturday afternoon from Hope College. Wittenberg will take on No. 6 Hope to start the day at 10:00 am, returning to action to close out the MIAA/NCAC Challenge against Albion at 12:30 pm.