ROME, GA - On the same court where they saw their 2023 season end in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Wittenberg Tigers took care of business on opening night of the Berry Invitational with a 3-1 win over Averett.

Wittenberg improved to 4-3 on the season, heading into matches on Saturday against Oglethorpe and the host team, Berry College. Averett fell to 2-6.

The Tigers jumped out to decisive victories in each of the first two sets by scores of 25-10 and 25-14. After Averett bounced back to win the third set 25-16, Wittenberg chosed things out with a 25-19 win in Set 4.

Three Tigers finished in double figures for kills in the match, led by Alana Bartulovic (Cleveland, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) with 12 kills on a .391 attack percentage. Kendall Black (Defiance, OH /  Defiance) was right behind with 11 kills and a sparkling .524 attack percentage, followed by Piper Ricketts (Morrow, OH / Little Miami) with 10 kills, Sam Fincham (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge) with seven kills, and Clare O'Malley (Avon, OH / St. Joseph's Academy) with six kills on seven swings in the match.

Mary Sulfridge (South Charleston, OH / Southeastern) dished out 21 assists and Celia Orr (Lexington, KY / Frederick Douglass) added 16 assists. Defensively, Ally White (Harrison, OH / Harrison) was tops with 12 digs and Ricketts added 11 digs. Kait Colahan (Vermilion, OH / Vermilion) contributed three blocks to move her career total to 100.