Tigers Open Season Ranked 6th In AVCA Top-25 Poll
A year after winning their league-leading 24th North Coast Athletic Conference title and competing in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 24th time in program history, the Wittenberg University Women's Volleyball Team opens the 2019 campaign as the sixth-ranked team in the country on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Top-25 that was released on August 14, 2019.
Of the Tigers' 25 regular season matches, seven of them will come against teams currently ranked in the top-25 of the AVCA Preseason Poll, which includes facing off against a pair of top-25 squads on the opening weekend of play at the Ohio Northern Invitational. After opening the season on August 30th with a 4:30 p.m. neutral site match against Transylvania, the Tigers will be battled tested on August 31st with back-to-back matches against No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan and No. 23 Ohio Northern.
Wittenberg, under the direction of Evelyn Carus in her second season at the helm, will then make the trek up to Lansing, Michigan, the following weekend for the Inaugural NCAC/MIAA Challenge. The Tigers kick off the event on September 6th with a 7:00 p.m. match against No. 2 Calvin, before returning to the court on September 7th for a 12:00 p.m. match against No. 21 Hope and a 4:00 p.m. bout against Albion.
The Tigers will finally open the home portion of their schedule the following weekend, September 13-14, with their annual Fall Classic. While it may be the first time competing on their home floor, the competition will remain tough as the Red & White will take on No. 16 Wisconsin-Whitewater on September 13th at 7:00 p.m., before hosting No. 19 Berry at 12:00 p.m. and local-rival Heidelberg at 6:00 p.m. on September 14th.
After diving into NCAC play for the better part of October, Wittenberg will close out its regular season campaign by competing at the Emory National Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia, capped off by taking on preseason No. 1 and host Emory in the season finale on November 2nd at 12:30 p.m.
While the Tigers will field an otherwise young roster in 2019, they will be bolstered by a pair of seniors that earned AVCA All-American honors in 2018, led by middle hitter Aubrey Cox who earned second-team All-American honors in 2018. In addition, senior libero Taylor Yontz also returns for her final season at Wittenberg after being named an Honorable Mention All-American by the AVCA last fall.