Tigers Sent to California For NCAA Division III Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Senior All-American libero Emilie Schmid (No. 21) coaches freshman Jan Kehres during a recent match.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Champions of the Great Lakes Regional for the second time in three years, the second-ranked Wittenberg Tigers have been shipped west - far west - for this weekend's NCAA Division III quarterfinal match. Sporting a record of 35-2 after defeating Alma College and the College of Mount St. Joseph at Ohio Northern University last weekend to win the regional, the Tigers will next travel to the University of La Verne near Los Angeles, Calif., for a date with the third-ranked Leopards at 10 p.m. (EST) Saturday, Nov. 20.

La Verne comes in with a 31-3 record and a No. 3 ranking nationally after claiming the West Regional in five tough games over top-seeded host California State-Hayward on Saturday. La Verne won its 18th Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship in 2004, and the Leopards are shooting for the fourth NCAA Division III national championship - the last one coming in 2001.

Wittenberg, champion of the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament for the eighth straight year in 2004, is making its 10th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and ninth in a row (1993, '96, '97, '98, '99, '00, '01, '02, '03, '04). The Tigers are now 9-9 in their national tournament appearances.

Senior setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson), the conference leader in assists and assists per game for a third straight year in 2004, leads the balanced, experienced Tigers. Already a two-time All-American and two-time NCAC Player of the Year, Yuskewich holds school and conference records for assists in a career and a season. In the two regional tournament matches, Yuskewich had 96 assists, bringing her season total to 1,517 and her career total to 6,176, fourth-most in NCAA Division III history based on records prior to the 2004 season.

In addition, senior libero Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), the conference leader in digs and digs per game and the 2003 NCAC Libero of the Year, continues to shine. Already the school and conference record-holder for digs in a season and a career, she kicked her numbers up a notch in the national tournament with 61 digs in two matches. If the season ended today, Schmid would break the NCAA Division III record for digs in a game with 8.77, and she is now just 75 digs shy of the NCAA Division III record of 1,110 digs in a season, set last year by Maryville's Karen Tobias, who also holds the career record by a wide margin. With 2,669 career digs, Schmid stands no worse than fourth all-time in NCAA Division III history, based on the records prior to the 2004 season.

In their only other appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals, the Tigers were defeated by host Wisconsin-Whitewater, 3-1, in 2002 after defeating Mount St. Joseph, 3-0, in the regional final. Wisconsin-Whitewater went on to win the national title.

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