Wittenberg Sweeps Past Fontbonne, 3-0
The top-seeded Wittenberg Tigers, the host of the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Tournament for the third time in the last four years, overwhelmed No. 8 seed Fontbonne, 3-0, in a quarterfinal match on Thursday in the HPER Center.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The top-seeded Wittenberg Tigers, the host of the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Tournament for the third time in the last four years, overwhelmed No. 8 seed Fontbonne, 3-0, in a quarterfinal match on Thursday in the HPER Center.
Wittenberg, ranked fifth in the nation and champions of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for the ninth straight year, improved to 31-4 overall on the 2005 season. The Tigers will square off with arch-rival Ohio Northern, the 14th ranked team in the nation, in the regional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Friday, also in the HPER Center. The two teams played an epic five-game match two years ago in the regional final on the same court, with Ohio Northern coming out on top.
Against Fontbonne, the Tigers were dominant, using long rallies in each of the three games to take lop-sided decisions of 30-15, 30-27, 30-16. In the first game, Wittenberg won the last 10 points. In the second game, the Tigers actually trailed 26-23 before stringing together seven of the last eight points to demoralize their visitors. And in the third game, Wittenberg won 10 of the last 11 points to cruise to the win.
The Tigers showed their usual balance on offense, led by 12 kills apiece from outside hitters Linda Young and Emily Bell and eight kills each from outside hitters Jan Kehres and Jackie Williams. The sophomore setting tandem of Ashley Anderson and Sarah Matesich finished with 24 and 20 assists respectively, while the Tiger defense show the same sort of team theme. Kehres and Bell had 18 digs each and freshman libero Laura Fender added 17 digs. In addition, senior middle hitter Emily Dixon led with five blocks as the Tigers finished with 8.5 team blocks compared to zero for the Griffins.
Fontbonne, champions of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, finished with more attacks than Wittenberg but 17 less kills and eight more errors. Maria Etfink finished with nine kills to lead the way, followed by Elizabeth Overberg and Brittany Kult with eight apiece. Rachel Schoeppe had 29 assists and Kult led the defensive effort with 20 digs.
Fontbonne's season record is complete at 24-10 overall. Wittenberg is into the regional semifinals for the fourth straight year.