SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - A meatgrinder of a regular season schedule is aimed at preparing the Wittenberg Tigers well for the 2006 postseason. That being the case, Saturday's events brought clearly mixed results.
The Tigers rallied for a 3-2 victory over nationally ranked Emory in the opener of a three-match day on the HPER Center court. However, Wittenberg became the third team in the two days to get the 3-0 steamroller treatment from up-and-coming Capital in the finale of the National Invitational.
The day's split decision left Wittenberg with an 18-6 overall record, one more loss than the Tigers suffered all last year.
Against Emory, Wittenberg dropped the first two games by matching 30-28 scores before rallying for a 30-21 win in Game 3. Game 4 and Game 5 were nip-and-tuck affairs that Wittenberg eventually got the best of by scores of 34-32 and 17-15. Sophomore Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) finished with 46 digs, the third-highest total in school history, while junior Caitlin Augustus (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) enjoyed a fine match with six blocks. Offensively, the big hitter was sophomore Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat), who finished with 17 kills.
The Tigers were crushed against a previously unranked Capital team, which reached the the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time ever a year ago. The Crusaders beat Elmhurst 3-0 on Friday at Wittenberg (after Emory had beaten Elmhurst 3-1), and they added a 3-0 win over Emory in Saturday's second match. Against the Tigers, Capital's momentum was overwhelming in a convincing 30-14, 30-17, 30-28 victory.
Junior Emily Bell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) led the way for Wittenberg statistically, finishing with 17 digs and eight kills. Fender added 14 digs. Offensively, Williams was high with 11 kills, while freshman Alison Thompson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) had her career-high with seven kills.