Tigers Clinch NCAC Regular Season Crown With Win At Hiram

Christine Simpson

HIRAM, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers clinched the outright North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season championship with a 3-1 win at Hiram.

Ranked second in the Great Lakes Region and sixth in all of NCAA Division III, Wittenberg improved to 28-3 overall and 15-0 in the NCAC. The Tigers won by set scores of 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17 over Hiram, which is ranked 10th in the region with records of 24-7 overall and 12-3 in the conference. While the Tigers have captured six straight NCAC regular season titles and 17 in the last 20 years, Hiram remains in second place with one match remaining.

Hiram remains the only team in the NCAC to defeat Wittenberg since 1997, and the Terriers became the first NCAC team in 2011 to take a set off the Tigers. Wittenberg will put the finishing touches on the 2011 regular season with a match at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Allegheny.

The Tigers were paced offensively by senior Christine Simpson (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) with 15 kills and a .323 attack percentage. Senior Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) added 10 kills, while freshman Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Perry) dished out a match-high 25 assists.

Defensively, Wittenberg picked up 22 digs from junior Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas), while Dyer and senior Hannah Riley (Minerva, Ohio/Minerva) added 11 apiece. Senior Katie Sumner (Dublin, Ohio/Watterson) topped the Tigers in blocks with six.