Springfield, OH- The Tigers were back in Pam Evans Smith Arena for day two of the Jim Coleman Invitational to take on Southern Virginia and Augustana (IL). Wittenberg came into day two off of a 3-1 loss to No. 15 Juniata and looked to improve their season record of 2-1. The Tigers average 10.25 kills per set, 9.75 assists per set and 8 digs per set. Wittenberg would look to seniors, Jackson Tyler who is currently leading the team in kills, and Noah Wissel who leads with 101 assists on the season. The Tigers also looked to freshman, Fred Halper who has 27 digs on the season to lead Wittenberg. The Tigers fell in their first match of the day with a 3-0 score against the Knights of Southern Virginia. After a tough back and forth match with the Augustana Vikings, Wittenberg ended the day 0-2 and fell to Augustana 3-1.
Southern Virginia:
The Tigers had a battle ahead of them with the Knights from Southern Virginia. SVU was able to gain an early lead of 8-6 which progressed to 18-13 in the first set. Wittenberg made great plays to stay within a few points, but the Knights were able to pull away and take the first set with a score of 25-17. The Knights of Southern Virginia were able to stay ahead in the second set but the Tigers kept fighting with seven kills. Southern Virginia was able to take the second set with a 25-14 score. Wittenberg was able to take the lead in the third set 4-2 before SVU tied it up at 6-6. A determined Wittenberg team put up a fight but the Knights were able to take the lead 11-10. Tigers fell in the third set with a 25-19 score, giving the Tigers a 3-0 loss.
Key Players: Wittenberg ended the match with 25 kills, 20 assists 22 digs and 3 blocks. The Tigers were led in kills by Dominic Melchiorre with six. Noah Wissel continues to lead Wittenberg in assists, putting up ten against the Knights. Fred Halper added six digs to his season stats to bring him up to 27 digs.
Augustana:
Tigers took an early 4-0 lead over the Augustana Vikings and quickly increased that score to a 15-10 score in the first set. Wittenberg out powered Augustana to take the first set 25-19. The Tigers were not able to carry that power into the second set and fell to the Vikings with a 25-13 score.
Wittenberg came back in the third set to take an early 7-5 lead. The Tigers had a back and forth battle, with the Vikings even catching up to tie the set 15-15 and then again 25-25. The third set continued to go back and forth before Augustana pulled ahead to take the third set 28-26. The fourth set would be the most consistent set going back and forth with the score being tied fifteen different times. The Vikings ultimately defeated Wittenberg 26-24 to take the match in a 3-1 win.
Key Players: Freshman, Fred Halper was named to the All-Tournament Team after picking up eight more digs, bringing his total to 14 on the day. Halper leads the Tigers in digs for the 2020 season. Noah Wissel helped out the Tigers with 23 assists against Augustana while Jackson Tyler led in kills, putting 13 down on the Vikings.
Up Next: The Tigers will take a break and be back in action on Friday, January 24th. Wittenberg will be traveling to Kenosha, WI for a non-conference game against Carthage at 7:00 PM.