Tigers Win to be 1-1 on the Day

MILWAUKEE, WI-The Tigers traveled to Milwaukee to take on MSOE after losing their first match of the day to Augustana in five sets, and this match would also go the distance. However, this time Wittenberg was able to come away with a 3-2 win by set scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-10. With the win, Wittenberg improves to 8-6 on the season, while MSOE falls to 1-4 to start the season.

Through the first three sets, the teams were evenly matched, with the Tigers winning two of the three, which were only separated by a total of 12 points. In the fourth, the teams were once tied at 10, but MSOE built a six-point lead at 13-19 and ended up continuing to build it before tying the match at 2 sets all by winning, 25-16. In the final set, it was back and forth until the Tigers took a 12-10 lead and won the final three points on attack errors by MSOE to win the match.

Team Leaders

• Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, IN / Bishop Chatard) and Adam Blair (West Chester, OH / Lakota West) were tied for the team lead in kills with 16 each.
• Gavin Hagerty (Fishers, IN / Fishers) led the team in assists with 30, twice as many as the next closest player Sam Richardson (Akron, OH / Walsh Jesuit), who logged 15.
• Jake Downs (Cincinnati, OH / Milford) led with 20 digs, while Yurk, Richardson, and Eli Halverson (Hamilton, OH / Badin) all finished with 10 each.
• Trajan Kress (Cincinnati, OH / Sycamore) paced the team in both service aces with two and blocks with one solo block on the night.

Team Comparison

• Wittenberg led in hitting percentage, .285-.217.
• The Tigers also had more digs than MSOE, 59-51.

The Tigers' next match is Friday, February 14, at 5:00 PM against Wisconsin Lutheran, which will be the opening match of the Springfield Men's Volleyball Showcase.