ST. LOUIS, MO. - The Wittenberg Tigers may have been a surprise top-ranked team to open the 2005 season, but perhaps voters from around the country knew something. The youthful Tigers continued to impress, taking down 13th ranked Central (Iowa) in their third match at the Washington University National Invitational.

The scores were decisive, too, at 30-18, 30-19, 30-17. The win moved the Tigers to a deceiving 3-2 on the season, with the losses coming against unbeaten and second-ranked Juniata in the season opener last weekend and unbeaten and first-ranked Washington University on Friday. The Bears, the 2004 national runner-up to Juniata, went a perfect 4-0 in their home tournament, which included five teams ranked in the top 13 in the nation.

One of those teams was Central, but Wittenberg was up to the task, led by sophomore outside hitter Emily Bell with 12 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Jan Kehres added eight kills, senior middle hitter Emily Dixon was solid with a pair of key blocks, senior outside hitter Linda Young chipped in with two aces and freshman libero rounded things out with a 20-dig, two-ace performance.