No. 12 Tigers Have Record Night In Win Over Ohio Northern

Springfield, OH – It was a record night for the No. 12 Wittenberg Women's Volleyball team as they defeated the visiting Polar Bears from Ohio Northern University, 3-1 (25-21, 25-10, 21-25, 25-18) on Wednesday night from Pam Evans Smith Arena. As one of the nation's leaders, Mack Ricketts set a new Wittenberg record for total assists in a four-set match with 55 of the Tiger's 60 on the night. Ricketts passed former Wittenberg All-American and current assistant coach Taylor Yontz with 38. Tyler Linkhart had plans of her own to rewrite the Wittenberg record books. Linkhart set a new  four set and total kills record with 27.

The hard-hitting trio of Linkhart, Kendall Robertson and Katie Hiestand tallied double-digit kills for the Tiger offense. Linkhart finished the night with a .375 hitting percentage, adding 11 digs and two block assists. Kendall Robertson posted a team-high .650 hitting-percentage. Robertson put down 15 kills on 20 attempts with just two errors, with two solo blocks. Hiestand put down 10 kills on 32 attempts, adding 21 digs, with a block and a block assist. As a team, Wittenberg put down 67 kills on 152 attempts with just 19 errors for a .316 hitting-percentage.

Ava Hampton added a team-high 24 digs along with a team-high 20 receptions. Hampton also served up two aces for the Tiger offense.

The two sides battled back-and-forth through the early going. The scoreboard flashed 11 ties, showing three lead changes in the first set alone, before ending in Wittenberg's favor. The second set was all Wittenberg, smothering the Ohio Northern offense. The Tigers posted a .316 hitting-percentage, holding the Polar Bears to a -.121 mark. The battle wasn't over heading into the fourth set. Wittenberg stormed back, posting their second-highest hitting-percentage of the night to close out the match.

With this win, Wittenberg improves to 12-3 on the season. Wittenberg is 6-1 on their home floor at Pam Evans Smith Arena. The Tigers remain unbeaten, improving to 5-0 in four set matches.

NATIONAL LEADERS

• Mack Ricketts ranks fifth nationally in NCAA DIII in assists/set at 10.30. She trails the national leader Lauren Lee (Hope College) by only a fraction of a point, as Lee is averaging 10.79 assists/set.
• Ricketts has cracked the top 50 in DIII for aces/set, coming in at No. 36 averaging .85 per set. Most recently, Ricketts posted six aces in Wittenberg's 3-0 win over Transylvania.
• Tyler Linkhart sits at 16^th nationally for kills/set with 4.15, smashing 166 kills in 40 sets played.
•  As a team, Wittenberg posts the fourth highest hitting-percentage amongst DIII programs with a .275 mark.
• Not only are the Tigers efficient but ruthless in their attack, ranking ninth nationally for kills/set at 13.48.

NCAC LEADERS

• Making her mark in the national standing, Ricketts tops the conference in assists/set (10.30), aces/set (0.85), total assists (412), and total service aces (34).
• Linkhart sets the conference standard for hitting-percentage at .390, ranking 18^th nationally.
• Kendall Robertson joins her fellow Tiger in the spot for hitting-percentage, smashing a .407 clip with 93 kills on 177 total attempts with just 21 errors.
• Robertson ranks sixth in the NCAC for blocks/set with .79.
• Ava Hampton has tallied 142 digs through 37 sets, averaging 3.94 digs/set, ranking fifth amongst her NCAC counterparts.
• Wittenberg holds the top spot in the NCAC in four statistical categories including, assists/set, hitting-percentage, kills/set, and win-percentage.

Wittenberg will return to action on Saturday, October 1, traveling to Hiram College. Continuing North Coast Athletic Conference play, first serve is set for 1:00 pm.