SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Emptying the bench and trying almost every conceivable combination of players over two matches, Head Coach Paco Labrador guided his Wittenberg Tigers to two nail-biting 3-2 victories on the first day of the 2008 Border Battle.
The wins, over Hope College and Walsh University, moved the fifth-ranked Tigers to 7-0 overall on the 2008 season. They will get right back into action on Saturday with challenging matches against Calvin College and Adrian College. Calvin is ranked nationally and has won at least one match in the NCAA Division III Tournament each of the last three years, while Adrian has been the surprise of this year's Border Battle with a pair of wins Friday.
Against nationally ranked and previously once-beaten Hope, the Tigers were forced to rally multiple times before prevailing by set scores of 18-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-16, 15-7. The Tigers survived a similar 3-2 tussle with Hope a year ago in the Border Battle.
The Tiger offense was strong with a .297 team attack percentage. Leading the charge individually were senior rightside hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat) with 13 kills and a .448 attack percentage, senior outside hitterKathleen Graham (Bowling Green, Ohio/Toledo St. Ursula) with 12 kills and a .375 attack percentage and senior middle hitter Jessica Kimble (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont) with 10 kills and a .368 attack percentage.
Junior setter Erin Slattery (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) dished out 29 assists in a stellar performance, and Graham added four aces to the attack. Defensively, junior libero Sara Heider (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) topped the team with 21 digs.
Against Walsh, Labrador chose to rest six of his top players, but his scrappy bunch put together another rally that had the small but partisan crowd on its feet by the end. Staving off three match points in the fifth and deciding set, the Tigers pulled out an improbable 25-21, 12-25, 25-18, 14-25, 17-15 victory over an NAIA scholarship program.
The star of the night for Wittenberg was unquestionably junior middle hitter Kate Snead (Westerville, Ohio/South), who pounded 15 kills - including the game-winner - while hitting .424 and registering a match-high eight blocks. She was set by the duo of junior Kendall Obreza (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall) with 21 assists and sophomore Amy Cox (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) with 16 assists.
Elsewhere, the Tigers picked up eight kills from freshman outside hitter Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley), 14 digs from junior Laura Schumaker (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and 12 digs from sophomore Becca Zajac (Livonia, Mich./Ladywood).
After the first day of the Border Battle, the Ohio side holds a slim 5-3 advantage. Along with Wittenberg, Ohio Northern and Adrian both were a perfect 2-0 on the day. Calvin and Mount St. Joseph both split their matches, while Hiram, Hope and Walsh, which is playing for the Michigan side despite being located in North Canton, Ohio, all went 0-2.