The Wittenberg University women’s volleyball team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 27th consecutive year and the 28th time in program history. The Tigers will open their quest for the program’s second NCAA Division III championship with a first-round match against Trinity University (TX) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, on the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
The Tigers' contest against Trinity, the champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), is one of four first-round matches scheduled for the opening day of the regional tournament hosted by Berry. Winners will advance to the regional semifinals on Friday, Nov. 17, and the championship match is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 18.
The opening day of the competition at Berry features matches between the host Vikings, ranked No. 12 in the country currently, and Washington & Lee, fourth-ranked Emory and Meredith, 14th-ranked Mount St. Joseph and 24th-ranked Covenant, and the battle of Tigers between Wittenberg and 13th-ranked Trinity. All matches will be played in Berry’s Cage Center.
The winner of Wittenberg's first-round match against Trinity will square off against the winner of the Berry/Washington & Lee match on Friday. That match will be followed by a second-round match featuring the winner of the Emory/Meredith match against the winner of the Mount St. Joseph/Covenant match. The winners of Saturday's second round matches will play at 5 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the national quarterfinals.
The winner of the regional bracket will advance to the national tournament, with quarterfinals set for Wednesday, November 29, at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Claremont, California. The national semifinals will take place on Thursday, November 30, and the national championship match will take place on Saturday, December 2, also at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Wittenberg advanced to the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament by virtue of the North Coast Athletic Conference's (NCAC) automatic berth after winning the NCAC Tournament title in dramatic fashion over regular season champion DePauw on Saturday, November 11. The NCAC Tournament title was Wittenberg’s 27th since 1992, and the Tigers have now won 14 of the last 15 tourney championships, dating back to 2006.
The Tigers, who compiled records of 16-13 overall and 5-2 in the NCAC, enter the national competition riding a nine-match winning streak. Wittenberg played an incredibly challenging schedule in 2023, with 10 of its first 18 matches against teams that have earned berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
“I am very proud of the way our team has bounced back from a tough start to this season,” said Head Coach Evelyn Miller. “We had an incredible run through the conference tournament, and now we are looking forward to representing Wittenberg and competing against the best teams in the country.”
Wittenberg is making its 28th NCAA appearance and 27th in a row (1993-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-22-23 – the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The Tigers have reached the NCAA Division III the national quarterfinals eight times, the national semifinals six times, and the championship game in 2011, 2015, and 2017. Wittenberg won the NCAA Division III Championship in 2011 and has a 49-24 (.681) overall record in the national tournament.