Wittenberg Splits With Oberlin And Wooster On Day 1 Of NCAC Tournament
The Wittenberg Tigers enjoyed a successful Day 1 at the 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship Tournament, hosted by Oberlin.
OBERLIN, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers enjoyed a successful Day 1 at the 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship Tournament, hosted by Oberlin. The fifth-seeded Tigers nearly knocked off No. 4 seed Oberlin in the opener, dropping a 5-4 decision, before rallying to defeat No. 8 seed Wooster, 5-0.
The first day split left the Tigers with an overall record of 10-6 and earned Wittenberg a chance to finish fifth in the tournament. The season concludes with a match against No. 6 seed Ohio Wesleyan at 9 a.m. Saturday. The Tigers defeated OWU twice in the regular season - both times by razor-thin 5-4 margins.
The first match of the day nearly was the tournament's first upset as the Tigers took four of the five singles matches to nearly pull off the win. Unfortunately, the Tigers had dropped all three doubles matches, including a heartbreaking 9-7 decision at the No. 2 spot.
Winners in the opener were freshman Jayne Miely (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) at No. 2 singles, freshman Elizabeth Micheletti (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) in three sets at No. 4 singles, sophomore Emily Nash (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) in three sets at No. 5 singles and freshman Rachel Bundy (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) at No. 6 singles. The decisive match was at No. 3 singles, where Tiger junior Kat Sundstrom (Trafalgar, Ind./North Central) dropped a narrow three-setter.
Wittenberg's second match of the day offered no such suspense. Micheletti won easily at No. 2 singles and with Bundy at No. 2 doubles, while Nash was also a double-winner at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles with Miely. Junior Allison Earhart (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) teamed with sophomore Marisa Pechawer (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) to win at No. 3 doubles.