Emilie Schmid

Monica McDonald

It was another outstanding weekend of volleyball for the Tiger program, made that much better by the performance of sophomore Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), who stepped up for the team in a pinch and delivered big-time. She was the key player for the Tigers as they finished second in the Wittenberg National Invitational over the weekend.

Schmid, who last year was primarily used as a defensive specialist and only became a starter late in the season, has been one of the teams top performers in 2002 as an outside hitter. She leads the team in digs and has been a solid offensive player as well, ranking among the best on the team in kills. In last weekends tourney, Schmid took over the role of setter after NCAC assists leader Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) went down with an ankle injury in a Friday night loss to nationally ranked Baldwin-Wallace.

The week began with a 3-0 NCAC victory over Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday and a 3-1 win over Thomas More on Friday in the first match of the round-robin formatted Wittenberg National Invitational. Then on the final point of a first-game win over B-W, Yuskewich was injured. She played the rest of the match, but the Tigers fell 3-1.

On Saturday, Yuskewich stayed on the bench to rest her sore ankle and Schmid stepped in. She had 65 assists in a morning victory over nationally ranked Nazareth and played well again in an afternoon win over Rochester Institute of Technology.

Of course, Schmid needed a strong supporting cast to do what she did. Sophomore outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) led the team in kills over the weekend and remains the top attacker in the NCAC with 4.75 kills per game. Yuskewich ranked first in the conference and among the top five in the nation in assists per game with 14.53. Before her injury, she was on pace to break the school and NCAA record for assists in a season set two years ago by Wittenbergs Shelli Habegger.