Wittenberg University vs. Ohio Northern University NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Final
It's hard to imagine two teams more evenly matched. In the end, as the Wittenberg University Tigers and the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears battled down to the wire before an estimated crowd of 800 fans screaming themselves hoarse in the Wittenberg University HPER Center, it was a shame that someone would have to lose - unless you were a fan of the visiting team.
7 p.m. -- Ohio Northern (30-7) def. Wittenberg (28-7)
3-2 (20-30, 31-33, 30-23, 30-26, 17-15)
It's hard to imagine two teams more evenly matched. In the end, as the Wittenberg University Tigers and the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears battled down to the wire before an estimated crowd of 800 fans screaming themselves hoarse in the Wittenberg University HPER Center, it was a shame that someone would have to lose - unless you were a fan of the visiting team.
That's because the Bears escaped with a dramatic 3-2 win to claim the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship and advance to the Tournament Quarterfinals next Saturday at a site to be determined. ONU, the third seed in the regional tournament but unquestionably one of the hottest teams in small college volleyball currently after knocking off sixth-ranked Mount St. Joseph in the semifinals and fifth-ranked Wittenberg in the finals, heads into the next round with a sparkling 30-7 record. Wittenberg, the defending regional titlist, bows out with a mark of 28-7.
Wittenberg jumped in front with a convincing win in the first game as Sarah Yuskewich distributed 17 of her game-high 68 assists and the Tigers posted an outstanding .312 attack percentage. In the second game, Yuskewich had 18 more assists and Emily Dixon had six kills, but fans got a taste of the tense things to come as the two teams battled through a remarkable seesaw game. Ohio Northern got five kills in seven attempts from Jessie Hampson in the second game.
In Game 3, the tides began to turn as ONU's attack percentage rose to .250, led by Hampson with six kills. Erika Roof moved the ball around expertly with 14 assists and Hannah Kanuckel and Karlee Kanuckel combined for 19 digs to keep the Tigers' offensive attack off balance. Game 4 followed much of the same script as ONU jumped out in front early and stayed in front the rest of the way. Then came Game 5, a fine back-and-forth affair with each team taking several leads before Wittenberg took a 14-12 lead and served for the match. However, ONU's Jen Ginn came up with a kill and then served two straight winning points to give the Bears a one-point lead. After a kill by Michelle Emming tied things at 15, Hannah Kanuckel ended it with a pair of kills.
The final statistics showed just how close it really was. Wittenberg finished with 253 attack attempts to 250 for ONU, and the Tigers led in kills 82-72. The difference came in sometimes unnoticed statistical areas, such as receiving errors, which Wittenberg led 5-2, and service errors, which the Tigers held a 14-7 advantage. For Wittenberg, Yuskewich had 68 assists and 23 digs, Kristin Fox finished with 27 kills, Lindsay Nelson had 19 kills, Emily Dixon had 17 kills and seven total blocks (six solo), and four players finished in double figures in digs, led by Emilie Schmid with 28. Ohio Northern got 56 assists from Erika Roof and put four players in double figures in kills, Ginn with 14, Hannah Kanuckel with 15, Hampson with 14 and Diane Gehret with 14. Leading the way defensively was Karlee Kanuckel with 35 digs as five players finished in double figures in that stat area.