Tigers Place Third in NCAC Tournament

It was a fine week to wrap up a solid season for the Tiger women's tennis team. For the second straight year, Wittenberg finished third in one of the toughest NCAA Division III tennis conferences in the country.

The Tigers started out the week with a loss at Kenyon 8-1, a loss that dropped Wittenberg into the No. 4 position for the NCAC Tournament at Oberlin on Friday and Saturday. In the first day, the Tigers opened with a 6-1 win over Allegheny before succombing to eventual champion Denison 5-0. Then on Saturday, Wittenberg rallied to claim third place with a 5-0 win over the host Yeowomen.

For the regular season, the Tigers may have finished with a sub-.500 record as a team, but the top three players on the team and the No. 1 doubles tandem were all stellar. Freshman Emily Figel (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who is in the running to be awarded one of eight individual berths into the NCAA Division III singles championship next month, wound up with a 19-4 overall record at first singles and a mark of 6-1 in the NCAC. Junior Shannon Oliphant (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) finished 17-4 at No. 2 singles and a perfect 8-0 in the NCAC. And freshman Sarah Fassler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) concluded her first collegiate campaign with an 11-10 record at No. 3 singles, including a 6-2 mark in the NCAC. In addition, the No. 1 doubles pairing of Figel and Oliphant was 13-6 overall and 5-2 in the NCAC.