Tigers Top Wooster To Clinch Share Of Regular Season Conference Title

Miranda Sagle

WOOSTER, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers took care of business for an 11th straight time, wrapping up a share of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season championship in the process, with a 3-0 win at Wooster.

Ranked third in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Tigers improved to 23-2 overall and 13-1 in the NCAC. The regular season title is Wittenberg's fifth in a row and conference-best 16th all-time. Hiram, which split two matches with Wittenberg earlier in the season, can earn a share of the title with four more victories.

Wittenberg, however, has clinched home court advantage for the 2010 NCAC Tournament Nov. 5-6. The tiebreaker is sets lost against conference opponents, and Hiram has already lost three more than Wittenberg.

In beating Wooster for the 25th time in 28 all-time meetings, the Tigers were up to their usual dominant standards. The set scores were 25-15, 25-11 and 25-18, running Wittenberg's streak to 11 matches in a row and 33 sets in a row since a 3-0 setback at Hiram on Sept. 26.

"I am proud of this team," said Head Coach Paco Labrador, who won the 250th match of his career and now has a record of 250-37 in eight seasons at Wittenberg. "They have worked hard to improve each day. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the remaining matches of the season."

Offensively, the Tigers spread things around as usual, with sophomore Jessie Batanian (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame) and junior Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) leading the charge with eight kills apiece. Junior Katie Sumner (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) was tremendous with seven kills in nine attempts without an error for a .777 attack percentage, while junior Miranda Sagle (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) added six kills and an attack percentage of .500.

Also of note, senior Amy Cox (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) dished out 31 assists and sophomore Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) led the defense with 15 digs.