Wittenberg Win Streak Ended At 10 By Muskingum

WAYNESBURG, Pa. - Every team has speedbumps to contend with in a season, and this one left the Wittenberg Tigers a little dazed. In their final match at the Waynesburg Tournament, the Tigers, the only ranked team in the field, were stunned 3-2 by Muskingum.

Wittenberg fell to 12-3 on the season with its first loss to an unranked opponent since the 2003 season. Muskingum, which is expected to challenge Ohio Northern for Ohio Athletic Conference supremacy in 2005 after a couple of mediocre years by the Muskies' standards, improved to 9-7 with its fifth straight victory.

The Tigers dominated the two games they won, capturing the opener 30-17 and Game 3 by an almost equally convincing 30-19 margin. However, the veteran Muskies pulled out tight wins in the second and third games by 33-31 and 30-28 margins, and after Wittenberg evened the score in Game 4, Muskingum took the momentum almost immediately the final game and ran out to a 15-8 win.

Statistically, the Tigers didn't play badly, compiling a .244 attack percentage and putting three players in double figures in kills - freshman outside hitter Jackie Williams with 20 and middle hitters Caitlin Augustus and Emily Dixon, a sophomore and senior respectively, with 10 apiece. Sophomore setters Sarah Matesich and Ashley Anderson split the workload, finishing with 40 and 21 assists respectively, and three players wound up with more than 20 digs, sophomore outside hitters Jan Kehres and Emily Bell and freshman libero Laura Fender. Kehres finished with a team-high 36 digs.