Wittenberg Volleyball Hosts Third Border Battle
And Volley For The Cure

Springfield, Ohio — The Wittenberg University volleyball team, ranked second in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division III poll, hosts its third annual Border Battle Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14-15. Inspired by the life of former Wittenberg women's basketball head coach and associate director of athletics Pam Smith, who died in June after a courageous 17-year battle with cancer, the team has also organized an all-day breast cancer awareness effort on Saturday.

The Border Battle, which annually features four of the top NCAA Division III teams from Ohio against four of the top teams from Michigan in a unique round robin format, has been a measuring stick for top NCAA Great Lakes Region teams in recent years. In 2007, the event takes on even greater meaning as the players strive for excellence in volleyball and to promote awareness of a tragic disease.

"On Saturday, the dominant color in our HPER Center will not be red, but pink," said Wittenberg Head Coach Paco Labrador. "Every team will be wearing pink warm-up uniforms, and spectators and coaches alike will be encouraged to wear pink to show support for the national efforts to raise awareness about breast cancer."

The Border Battle is the second of three regular season tournaments Wittenberg will host during the 2007 season. The Tigers will be joined on the Ohio side of the competition by Ohio Northern University, the College of Mount St. Joseph and Baldwin-Wallace College. Those four squads will square off against the Michigan side, comprised of Alma College, Adrian College, Hope College and Calvin College. Four rounds of matches will start at 1 p.m. on Friday and another four rounds will commence at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Pink Border Battle/Volley For The Cure T-shirts will be on sale in the lobby throughout the weekend, with proceeds going to breast cancer research. The event is based on a tremendously successful Ohio High School Athletic Association event in 2006. Two Cincinnati-area high school students organized a well-attended Volley For The Cure match, and just one year later the program is being adopted state-wide.

The host Tigers are off to an 8-0 start to the 2007 season, their fifth under Labrador, who now has a career record of 140-23. Wittenberg is coming off a 35-8 season in 2006, one that included a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season championship and a second consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament run to the national semifinals, equaling the best finish in school history. The Tigers have picked up right where they left off a year ago, thanks in part to outside hitter Jackie Williams, class of 2009 from Rocky River, Ohio, the team leader in kills, and libero Laura Fender, class of 2009 from Toledo, Ohio, the team leader in digs. Williams, a first-team All-NCAC and All-Great Lakes Region honoree a year ago, was named NCAC Player of the Week on Sunday, Sept. 9, and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 10.

A year after Ohio teams won 14 of 16 matches in the inaugural Border Battle, the teams from Michigan pulled even in 2006 at 8-8. Wittenberg, Ohio Northern and Calvin each compiled 3-1 records in the event to lead the individual team standings.

Ohio Northern, ranked 15th in the latest national poll and regular season champion of the rugged Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) each of the last seven years, is off to a 4-4 start, although three of the Polar Bears' four losses have come against teams listed in the national rankings, including Wittenberg. Mount St. Joseph has long been a powerhouse small college program, but the Lions are off to a 3-5 start after compiling a 27-12 record and reaching the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2006. Baldwin-Wallace is off to a 5-3 start after finishing 26-7 overall and 8-1 in the OAC a year ago. The Yellow Jackets were co-champions of the OAC with Ohio Northern in 2006.

Alma, Adrian, Calvin and Hope are four of the top teams in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). Alma, an NCAA Division III Tournament participant two of the last four years, is off to a 3-4 start to the 2007 season. Adrian is an up-and-coming program with a 6-1 record, including a 3-0 mark in the conference. Hope, the 2005 MIAA regular season champions, is off to a 6-1 overall record, including a 3-0 mark in the MIAA. The NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region runner-up to Wittenberg in 2005 and 2006, nationally ranked Calvin sports records of 4-1 and 1-0 in the MIAA through the first week of the 2007 season.