Roundup: Tigers Take Three More Wins
The Wittenberg volleyball team had a recent hiccup, but three wins in the last week, including a three-game sweep against North Coast Athletic Conference challenger Wooster, provide all indications that the Tigers remain on course for another outstanding season.
The Wittenberg volleyball team had a recent hiccup, but three wins in the last week, including a three-game sweep against North Coast Athletic Conference challenger Wooster, provide all indications that the Tigers remain on course for another outstanding season.
The Tigers, ranked fifth in the country currently, stand 15-3 overall and 3-0 in the NCAC at the midway point of the 2005 season. Coming off the best season in school history at 35-3, the numbers are somewhat pedestrian at first glance - until it is noted that this year's team features just three returning starters and is getting contributions from numerous inexperienced underclassmen.
Wittenberg's three losses this season - to No. 1 ranked Washington University, No. 2 ranked defending national champion Juniata and Ohio Athletic Conference contender Muskingum - are more a product of an extremely challenging schedule than any obvious weaknesses on the team. Two of the defeats were in five games, including the most recent against Muskingum in the final match at the Waynesburg Tournament on Sept. 24.
Since then, the Tigers have bounced back to take the measure of Earlham and Wooster in NCAC action and Otterbein in a non-conference tilt on Saturday, Oct. 1. In each case, the Tigers swept all three games.
Despite nagging injuries to several key players, Wittenberg continues to roll. Offensively, no Tiger players will be appearing among the NCAC or NCAA Division III leaders in 2005 because the wealth is spread around so evenly. Three players have topped the 100-kill plateau - sophomore outside hitters Jan Kehres (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) and Emily Bell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran)and freshman outside hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat). Williams has come on strong of late, and she leads the Tigers on a per-game average at 3.29. Three other players have at least 90 kills on the season.
Defense has been a trademark of Tiger teams under the leadership of third-year Head Coach Paco Labrador, and in 2005, freshman libero Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) has been outstanding from the very beginning. She leads the team and ranks among the conference and national leaders with 6.14 digs per game, followed closely by Kehres and Bell, who both have more than 250 digs on the season. The Tigers also block well, as sophomore middle hitter Caitlin Augustus (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) leads with 67 and senior middle hitterEmily Dixon (Granville, Ohio/Granville) is next with 49.