SPRINGFIELD — The Wittenberg men's volleyball team closed out its regular-season schedule with a 3-0 victory over Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League foe Calvin on Saturday afternoon, extending its current win streak to eight games and clinching the first unbeaten conference record in program history. The Tigers earned the sweep by scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-22. The Tigers had already clinched the No. 1 seed and hosting honors for next week's MCVL Tournament with Friday's 3-2 win over Trine, and Saturday's victory earned them the outright conference title after sharing it a season ago.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (18-8 overall, 9-0 MCVL), Calvin (6-19 overall, 3-6 MCVL)
• Venue: Pam Evans Smith Arena - Springfield, Ohio
• The team honored seniors Andrew Diaz de Padilla (Nipmo, Calif./Central Coast New Tech), Tom Supan (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and Kurt Klamfoth (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) on Senior Day.
• Wittenberg has won back-to-back MCVL regular-season championships after earning a share of the conference title last season with Baldwin Wallace and Mount Union.
• Wittenberg, Baldwin Wallace, Trine and Mount Union have clinched berths in the four-team MCVL Tournament, which is scheduled for April 12-13. These are the same four teams that qualified for the 2023 conference tournament, which was won by Baldwin Wallace.
• Trine, Mount Union and Baldwin Wallace finished in a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with matching 7-2 records.

Stat Leaders

• Sophomores Eli Halverson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) and Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and freshman Reese Monnin (Xenia, Ohio/Carroll) led the Tigers in kills with eight each. Monnin had a team-best .583 hitting percentage.
• Klamfoth added six kills to go with five from Supan.
• Supan added a team-high three service aces.
• Diaz de Padilla recorded a team-high 20 assists for the Tigers to go with 12 assists from sophomore Sam Richardson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit).
• Supan and Richardson tied for the team lead in digs with seven each, and Klamfoth had a team-high three blocks.
• Benjamin Krumbach led Calvin with eight kills.

The Game

• The first set was tightly contested, featuring six ties, the last of which came at 13-all. Wittenberg scored the next two points on a kill from Yurk and a Calvin attack error and led the rest of the way en route to the 25-21 victory.
• The Tigers opened up a 13-5 edge in the second set, but Calvin answered with a 6-3 run to cut the deficit to five, 16-11. Wittenberg scored the next three points on kills from Klamfoth and Halverson and an ace from Supan for a 19-11 lead en route to the 25-16 victory.
• The teams played to a 14-all tie to open the third set, but Wittenberg scored five of the next six points for a 19-15 lead. That stretch included a kill from Monnin and an ace from sophomore Trajan Kress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore). The Tigers later led 24-20 before Calvin answered with two stright points, but the Tigers clinched the match via a Knight attack error.
• Wittenberg hit .222 in the match, finishing with 39 kills and 17 errors. Calvin hit .120, finishing with 27 kills and 16 errors.

Quote - Head coach Nathan Matthews

• "It was so special to celebrate our seniors: Andrew Diaz de Padilla, Kurt Klamfoth and Tom Supan. Those guys have meant so much to our program. We would not be where we are today without them. Completing an undefeated conference season made it that much more meaningful. When those three committed to the program, that was barely imaginable. This team should be proud of what they have accomplished!"

Records & Milestones

• Third-year head coach Nathan Matthews is now 48-35 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg is now 1-0 all-time against Calvin, which is in its first season in the MCVL.
• Diaz de Padilla has a team-high 561 assists this season and ranks third in program history with 1,171 career assists. His 610 assists from last season rank seventh in program history for a single season. Richardson ranks fifth in program history with 709 career assists.
• Yurk has a team-high 308 kills this season, which ranks second in program history for a single season. He ranks fifth in program history with 501 career kills. Halverson ranks seventh in program history with 478 career kills, and Supan ranks ninth with 420 career kills.
• Supan has a team-high 206 digs this season, which ranks fourth all-time at Wittenberg for a single season. His 339 career digs rank sixth in program history. Sophomore Jake Downs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Milford) ranks seventh all-time with 311 career digs.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Friday, April 12, hosting fourth-seeded Mount Union in the MCVL Tournament semifinals at 7 p.m. Second-seeded Baldwin Wallace and third-seeded Trine will face off in the other semifinal matchup at Wittenberg at 4 p.m. The tournament championship game is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, at 3 p.m. at Wittenberg.