Tiger's Down California Lutheran 3-2 in Jim Coleman Memorial Opener

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—The Wittenberg Tigers improved to 4-0 on the season with a five set victory, 3-2, over California Lutheran University. The Tigers were the 8 p.m. match in an action-packed opening day of the Jim Coleman Memorial Tournament. Wittenberg was able to jump out to a 1-0 lead after the first set, but California Lutheran was able to stay with the Tigers, going set-for-set until the decisive fifth set. Playing to a packed home crowd, Wittenberg took home the final set 15-11 in dramatic fashion. All night, Dylan Kolovitz (Chicago, Illinois/St. Patrick) drove the Tiger offense, racking up 20 kills in the two-hour and thirty-minute affair. Troy Boucher (Delaware, Ohio/Olentangy) and Ross Russell (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) combined 23 digs on the night. Kolovitz paced the Tigers with 21.5 points on the night.

SET -BY-SET

• Wittenberg took the first-27-25 behind Justin Luby's (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) multiple kills to close things out for the Tigers.
• The Tigers fell 25-29 in the second set, despite leading 11-10 early-on.
• California Lutheran put together five consecutive points to put third set at 23-22, before Isaiah Brock (Noblesville, Indiana/Noblesville) sealed the deal for the Tigers with one of his eight kills on the night.
• Much like the entire match, California Lutheran kept the back-and-forth affair going, winning the fourth set 25-19 and forcing the decisive fifth set.
• In the deciding set, things were knotted up at 11-all before Brock was able to stand tall and produce two decisive blocks on California Lutheran attacks to get the 14^th and 15^th points for Wittenberg.

KEY STATS

• Kolovitz 20 Kills is a new Wittenberg team high.
• As a team, the Tigers were able to rack-up 21 blocks, another new team high.

FROM THE COURT

• "I was really proud to watch them make some special things happen tonight; especially going in at the switch down…The ability to really pull together and make some exceptional things happen from a blocking standpoint and from a serving standpoint was just a great team effort. Thank you once again to all of the fans for coming out and showing all of your support, it's much appreciated as we have a couple more tests tomorrow that we might need some help with," said Coach Amstutz.

UP NEXT

• The 4-0 Tigers return to action tomorrow at Pam Evans Smith Arena as the Jim Coleman Memorial Tournament continues. Wittenberg is set to face-off against North Central at 11A.M. and Juniata at 3P.M.

JIM COLEMAN

• The tournament has been named in honor of Wittenberg alumnus Jim Coleman, member of International Volleyball Hall of Fame and Wittenberg Athletic Hall of Honor. During this lifetime, Coleman coached the United States national men's volleyball team and took part in seven Olympic Games.
• The Tigers will honor him within their games throughout the tournament, according to Coach Evan Amstutz.
• "His impact on the game is seen worldwide," Amstutz said. "We wanted to remember him with a tournament of top-quality volleyball."
• Jim Coleman was inducted into Wittenberg's athletic hall of honor based on a career which started in Springfield as a child and blossomed during his four years as a student at Wittenberg. After he was introduced to the sport of volleyball during his formative years, Coleman brought it to Wittenberg as a student and later as a professor at the university.
• Full Tournament Schedule

Written By: Kuris Duggan