Calvin Edges Past Wittenberg To Win NCAA Division III Tournament Regional Title

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers ran into a buzzsaw in their quest for the first national volleyball championship in program history, coming up short in a 3-1 loss to Calvin in the Springfield, Ohio Regional Championship match.

Amy Cox (2) and Katie Sumner go up for a block.

The seventh-ranked Knights, with six players on the roster standing 6-0 or taller, recorded a whopping 19 team blocks in the match. Outstanding defensive net play was the difference in the match as Calvin, seeded fourth in the regional competition, avenged a 3-0 loss on the same court less than two months earlier to improve to 29-6 on the season and advance to the national quarterfinals next weekend in St. Louis, Mo.

Wittenberg led 23-20 in the first set, but Calvin stunned the noisy home crowd with a five-point burst to close out a 25-23 win. The Knights' Kristen Zietse served the last four points, which included a key block by 6-0 freshman setter Megan Reitema and Renee DeHaan, who led both teams with 11 total blocks (one solo).

In the second set, Calvin jumped on top early and cruised to a 25-21 win, but the Tigers bounced back to take the third set. Trailing 20-19, Wittenberg got the serve back and then reeled off five more points in a row on the serve of sophomore outside hitter Jessie Batanian (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula). But the fourth set was an almost carbon copy of the first as Wittenberg squandered a 23-20 lead. Zietse again served it out as her teammates picked up a pair of clutch blocks, including a solo effort by DeHaan that set up match point.

The Tigers were paced offensively by senior setter Amy Cox (Newark, Ohio/Catholic), who was one of three Tigers to earn All-Tournament team honors after finishing with a match-high 49 assists, two service aces, seven digs and three kills. Junior Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) also made the All-Tournament team after pounding 17 kills to go along with 10 digs, and junior Katie Sumner (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) rounded out the Tigers' All-Tournament team selections after contributing 13 kills and three solo blocks.

Calvin's Rebecca Kamp was the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 10 kills and six blocks in the championship match. Her sister, Lizzie, led the Knights with 13 kills.