No. 16 Tigers Go Wire-to-Wire Hosting Annual Fall Classic

Springfield, OH – The No. 16 Wittenberg Women's Volleyball team completed the clean sweep of the 2022 Fall Classic, taking down the Asbury Eagles and Geneva Golden Tornadoes in straight sets to complete their 3-0 weekend. Wittenberg opened the day with a (25-18, 25-14, 26-24) sweep of the Eagles in their first match. Rounding out the doubleheader, the Tigers' took care of Geneva in straight sets (25-11, 25-15, 25-17). Taking three wins over the weekend, the nationally-ranked Tigers improve to 9-2 on the season.

Riding a four-match win streak, Wittenberg holds a 6-2 record in matches taken to three sets. Over the past week of competition, Wittenberg has not dropped a set, picking up their second win of the season against MSJ and picking up their third top 25 win of the season against No. 11 Otterbein.

Claiming All-Classic MVP honors on the weekend for Wittenberg was Tyler Linkhart. Linkhart tallied 40 kills through three matches with six errors on 78 attacks for a .436 hitting percentage. Ava Hampton would be named to the All-Classic team, logging 32 digs, keeping the Tiger defense alive, adding five assists and two aces.

ASBURY RECAP

• Linkhart led the Tiger attack to open the day with 15 kills on 33 swings. Linkhart added five digs, along with a solo block and a block assist at the net.
• Four different Tigers tallied four kills in the opening win of the day. Mack Ricketts, Olivia Follick and Hannah Schartz combined for 12 of Wittenberg's 41 kills on the afternoon.
• Ricketts continues to set the pace of the Wittenberg offense, dishing out 26 of 29 assists. Ricketts added an ace and nine digs to her tally in the win.

GENEVA RECAP

• Wittenberg put together hitting-percentages of .524 and .450 to take the first two sets from Geneva. Tallying 12 kills per set between 41 attacks attempts with just four errors to get the offense rolling.
• Linkhart smashed 15 kills on 20 swings with one error for a hitting-percentage of .700. Linkhart matched the single-match hitting-percentage with a minimum of 20 attempts. Sitting alongside Tiger legend Kimmie Dyer. Dyer put down 14 kills on 20 swings without an error against Oberlin in October 2010.
• Kendall Robertson continued to produce the efficient attack, with four kills on six attacks without an error. Robertson recorded a .667 hitting-percentage, adding two service aces to her tally.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• As a team, Wittenberg ranks 7^th nationally in hitting-percentage. Hitting .280 through 27 sets with 373 kills on 936 total attacks and just 111 errors.
• The Tigers rank in the top 10 for hitting-percentage, Wittenberg has logged the most sets played with the most kills (373).
• Mack Ricketts as her finger on the pulse of the Tiger offense, leading both the NCAC and DIII at 10.93 assists/set. Through the early going, Ricketts has dished out 295 of Wittenberg's 347 assists.
• Ricketts holds the top spot in the NCAC, averaging .89 aces/set. Ricketts cracks the top 50 in NCAA DIII, coming in at No. 41 with 24 aces in 27 sets. Most recently, Ricketts put down five aces in the Wittenberg sweep over No. 11 Otterbein.
• Established as one of the top hitters in the NCAC, Tyler Linkhart currently ranks 29^th in NCAA DIII hitting-percentage at .391. Linkhart has put down 109 kills with just 18 errors on 233 swings through 27 sets.

UP NEXT

Wittenberg will return to action from Pam Evans Smith Arena on Tuesday, September 20, hosting the Pioneers from Transylvania University. First serve is set for 7:00 pm.