UTICA/AURORA, NY - After a mid-season two-week break from competition, the Wittenberg Tigers hit the road for one of the longest and most unusual Spring Break trips. The journey began with mixed results as the Tigers dropped a 3-1 decision at SUNY Poly in Utica, NY, before rallying for a 3-1 win over Wells College in nearby Aurora, NY.
The results left the Tigers with a record of 9-5, heading into a match Monday at Brooklyn and a pair of contests on Tuesday at Yeshiva against the host team and Sarah Lawrence. After a travel day, Wittenberg returns to the Buckeye state to play Stevenson in a match played at Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati and then heads west for league matches against North Central (Ill.) and Loras (Iowa).
Against SUNY Poly, the teams split the first two sets before the host team took control by scores of 25-19 and 28-26. SUNY Poly, which is currently one-half match off the lead in the North East Athletic Conference, improved to 14-6 overall.
SUNY Poly attacked at a better percentage, finishing at .233 to .168 for Wittenberg, despite an outstanding performance by the Tigers' blockers, who piled up 13 stops at the net. Freshman Ross Russell (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and freshman Ashton Sellers (Westerville, Ohio/Central) led the way in blocks for the Tigers with two solos and four assists apiece.
Russell dished out 35 assists, with freshman Dylan Kolovitz (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) leading the offensive output with 10 kills, followed by Sellers with nine. Senior Matt Briskey (Dublin, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) added seven kills, and freshman Joel Sotos (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) sparked the Wittenberg defense with 12 digs.
Against Wells, Wittenberg's offense was efficient, topping .400 for an attack percentage in three of the four sets. Overall, the Tigers finished with 59 kills and just 15 errors in 117 attack attempts.
Freshman Justin Luby (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) led the way with 18 kills, followed by Kolovitz with 15 and Sellers with 10. Russell poured in 49 assists, and he shared defensive honors with Sotos with 10 digs each.
Written By: Ryan Maurer