Men's Volleyball Makes History with First Ever NCAA Match Victory

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—The Wittenberg Tiger's men's volleyball team started their own page in history Friday night, and inked many firsts in the programs first NCAA match. The most important statistic of the night for the first-year team was getting the program's first every victory. Wittenberg played to the packed home crowd, defeating Olivet 3-0 in impressive fashion. The youthful Tigers controlled the match from the tip, as Max Baker (Brownsburg Indiana/Brownsburg) recorded the first point in school history via a service ace. On the very next play, Joel Sotos (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) put the Tigers up 2-0 in the game, and himself in Wittenberg history, recording the programs first kill. Sotos shined all night for the Tigers, recording 15 kills in the opener.

SET BY SET

• The Tigers came out on top 24-14 in the first set, as Ross Russell (Akron, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit) went on a run at the service-line, leading the Tigers from a 13-8 to a 21-8 lead before committing a service error.
• Alex Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon), Ashton Sellers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) and Sotos combined for five aces and six kills in the second set, as Wittenberg won 25-13.
• In the third and final set, the Tigers came out on top, winning the match 25-18.
• Despite trailing 3-0 to start the third set, the Tigers offense came roaring back to tie the game at 10-10 after yet another service-ace by Sotos.

TOP PERFORMANCES

• Sotos racked up 15 kills in 18 total attempts while providing five service aces.
• Baker contributed six kills on nine attempts on the attack for the Tigers.
• Nathan Matthews (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) and Sotos both led the Tigers with five digs a piece.
• As a team, the Tigers were 32 of 54 on the attack, for a kill-percentage of 44% on the night.

FROM THE BENCH

• "The guys had a great opportunity to play in front of a large crowd and performed well for having some butterflies early in the match. We are so thankful for everyone who could be in attendance for our first match…The support was much appreciated and we hope to see our fan base grow as the season progresses," said Coach Amstutz.

UP NEXT

• The Tigers return to action tomorrow as the Wittenberg Quad continues. Wittenberg faces off against Adrian at 10a.m. and Hilbert at 1p.m. at Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Written By: Kuris Duggan