Springfield, Ohio - The Wittenberg women's volleyball team continued its late-season push, picking up a fourth straight victory, this time by a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18) score over Muskingum. The win was the Tigers' fifth in the last six matches and ninth in 12 matches since September 30, giving Wittenberg much-needed momentum heading into the final weekend of regular season play and next week's North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament.
Not only did the Tigers win their final regular season match in Pam Evans Smith Arena for the 2023 season, but they also celebrated an impressive individual milestone. Senior Tyler Linkhart (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Yellow Springs) surpassed 1,000 career kills during the second set of the match, reaching the plateau with a clutch kill to make the score 5-3 and following that up with a second consecutive kill to make it 6-3.
Despite that momentum, the Tigers lost the second set. Linkhart kept swinging, however, pounding out a match-best 21 kills against just three attack errors for a .367 percentage to power an efficient offensive performance across the other three sets. Linkhart was joined in double figures offensively by sophomore Alana Bartulovic (Cleveland, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) and sophomore Kali Worcester (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty), who each contributed 14 kills.
Senior Mack Ricketts (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) led both teams with 47 assists, a season high and the seventh time this year she has topped 40 assists in a match. Ricketts recently surpassed 2,500 career assists. Defensively, the Tigers were paced by junior Kendall Black (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) with three blocks and a trio of players in double figures for digs, led by sophomore Ally White (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) with 22, which topped both teams.
Wittenberg is now 11-13 overall on the season, while Muskingum dropped to 6-16. The Tigers will round out the regular season with matches against Heidelberg and Ohio Northern in Ada, Ohio, on Saturday, November 4. Match times are 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.