Emilie Schmid

Lindsay Nelson

The Tiger volleyball team posted a second-place finish in the Washington University National Invitational last week, but this wasn't any ordinary runner-up finish. The competition featured five nationally ranked teams and was hosted by perennial national power and preseason No. 4 ranked Washington University, and Wittenberg lost just one of four matches in taking the second-place trophy.

After finishing runner-up in tournaments at Mount St. Joseph and West Florida each of the last two weeks, the Tigers nearly posted their biggest win in the programs history in the opener, losing 3-2 to the host team after taking a 2-0 lead. Leading the charge for the Tigers were the usual dynamic sophomore duo of setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) with 55 assists and Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) with 27 kills.

The Tigers regrouped after the setback to win three straight matches in dominating fashion. Against Ohio Northern, the 2001 Ohio Athletic Conference champion and the team that ended Wittenbergs season a year ago in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Tournament, the Tigers captured a convincing 3-1 victory. In addition to Yuskewichs usual excellence, the trio of McDonald, Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic) and Lindsay Nelson (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) combined to put away 56 kills.

The Tigers just kept getting better from there, winning the next two matches, 3-0. Central, which has combined with Washington University to win 10 of the last 12 national titles, was the next victim. Rounding things out, a third straight nationally ranked foe, Puget Sound, was vanquished by a 3-0 count. Yuskewich was again prominent on the statistics sheet, and she was ably assisted by Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), who contributed 13 digs.

Yuskewich, who leads the NCAC in assists at 13.77 per game, was named to the Washington University National Invitational All-Tournament, the third straight week she has been so honored. McDonald, who tops the conference in kills at 4.79 per game, also earned all-tournament team recognition.

North Coast Athletic Conference action gets underway this weekend as Allegheny and Kenyon come calling in a triangular, following a non-conference match-up opposite perennial national power DePauw. Wittenberg has not lost a conference match since 1997.