Tigers Take First in Their Own Tournament

Emilie Schmid

Tiffany Keller

The Wittenberg volleyball team had another succesful weekend after hosting, and winning, its own invitational tournament by claiming victories in all four matches over two days. The tournament title came on the heels of three straight 3-0 NCAC victories over Earlham, Allegheny and Kenyon over the last week, victories which put the preseason favorite Tigers on track for a fifth straight undefeated conference regular season.

The Tigers first victory of the weekend came at the expense of Mount Union, 3-1, despite losing the only game of the weekend. Senior middle hitter Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) and sophomore outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) played brilliantly, claiming 38 kills between them. They were helped greatly, as always, by sophomore setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson), who contributed 64 assists.

Case Western was the next victim as the Tigers yielded just 43 points through the entire match, won by Wittenberg 3-0. Praise must be heaped on sophomore outside hitter Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), who contributed 16 kills on offense and 17 digs on defense. On Saturday, it was more of the same as the only two unbeaten teams in the tournament, Wittenberg and Calvin, squared off. Once again, the home team came away with the 3-0 victory through the efforts of McDonald and Keller, who had 12 kills apiece, and Yuskewich, who distributed 41 assists.

The final match of the tournament featured another Tiger sweep, this time against nationally ranked Ohio Northern in the championship. Sixty-one assists from Yuskewich and 15 kills from McDonald helped the team to the final win.

Keller made the all-tournament team in recognition of her outstanding play. The accolades continued to roll in on Monday as she was named NCAC Player of the Week. For the weekend, Keller finished with 62 kills (3.8 per game average), six stuff blocks, eight assists and .523 kill percentage.

Wittenberg returns to conference action this weekend at Oberlin in an NCAC tri-match with Wooster. The Tigers have not lost an NCAC match since October 1997.