Women's Volleyball Overtakes Tartans In Three Sets

Huntingdon, Pa. – The third-ranked Wittenberg women's volleyball team kicked off their weekend from the Asics Invitational, facing the #24 Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University. The Tigers cruised to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-17) victory in their match of the weekend.

Who Stood Out: Three Tigers finished the match with double-digit kills on the evening. Taylor Brown and Aubrey Cox would both log a .450 kill percentage with 10 kills on 20 attack attempts and just one error. Brown would add six digs, while Cox would supply a service ace for Wittenberg. Katie Hiestand finished up the match with 10 kills on 22 attack attempts for a .364 kill percentage. Karen Wildemann tallied 33 of the 43 Tiger assists on the evening.

First Set Breakdown: Wittenberg was battling back and forth with the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon at 10-10 and then 12-12 early in the first set. A Hiestand kill assisted by Megan Flaherty extended the Tiger lead to 18-14. Wittenberg kept a comfortable cushion over the Tartans after a kill by Brown assisted by Taylor Yontz took the Tiger lead to 20-16. The Tigers would allow only two more Carnegie Mellon points the rest of the set, recording their final point on the block by Kennedey Schmidt.

Second Set Breakdown: Wittenberg would have to regain the lead in the second set, with Carnegie Mellon taking the early 7-5 advantage. The Tigers would go on a scoring run to retake the lead after Cox tied the game back up at 9-9. Brown would find her groove from the service line, sending Wittenberg on a four-point run and giving the Tigers a 13-11 lead. Wittenberg would not relinquish the lead the rest of the set, extending their advantage over the Tartans to 23-18, before Cox drove home the final kill at 25-23.

Third Set Breakdown: Wittenberg jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the final set against the Tartans. After back-to-back Madison Manger service aces, the Tigers forced a Carnegie Mellon timeout. Wittenberg would extend their lead even further after the Hiestand attack landed on the Tartan side of the net, putting the Tigers up 17-11. Karen Wildemann would tally four assists down the stretch for the Tigers as Wittenberg would go on to take the final set 25-17.

From The Bench: "I thought our week of practice was very productive. We have great respect for Carnegie Mellon, they are scrappy defenders and always challenge our offense. It was great to see the team play at our level tonight," said interim head coach Evelyn Carus, "The forecast was stormy in Huntingdon today and we definitely brought the thunder!"

Up Next: Wittenberg continues play from the Asics Invitational in Huntingdon, Pa. tomorrow afternoon with a pair of matches. The Tigers will be back in action against another ranked opponent, facing off against tournament host #15 Juniata College at 12:00 PM and returning to the court at 4:00 PM to face off against Christopher Newport.