Wittenberg Pounds Its Way Past Ohio Northern

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers will get the chance to defend their NCAA Great Lakes Regional Tournament championship Saturday after disposing of arch-rival Ohio Northern, 3-1, in Friday night's semifinals at the HPER Center.

Wittenberg improved to 32-4 on the season and advanced to the regional title match for the fourth straight year. The Tigers have won two of the last three regional titles, only to lose in the national quarterfinals at Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2002 and La Verne in 2004.

If 2005 is going to be different, the Tigers will have to continue to perform as they did against Ohio Northern on Friday. Playing on the same court where two years earlier the Polar Bears rallied from an 0-2 deficit to stun Wittenberg in the regional championship match, the Tigers dominated three of the four games to beat Ohio Northern for the fourth straight time over the last two seasons.

The first two games were over quickly by margins of 30-17 and 30-14. The Tigers made just two attack errors in each game while compiling an attack percentage of .500 or better. But in Game 3, Ohio Northern brought Laura Vuyk in off the bench and she responded with 10 kills to help the Polar Bears rally from a 22-18 deficit and extend the match with a 30-27 victory. A few adjustments were made by Wittenberg, however, and the result of Game 4 was a 30-21 win to seal the deal.

Offensively, Wittenberg had two stars but did the usual fine work spreading the ball around. Freshman Jackie Williams pounded 20 kills in 38 attempts against just one error for a phenomenal attack percentage of .500. Senior Linda Young was even better in the first two games, coming up with 16 kills in her first 25 attempts. She went on to record 19 kills against just three errors in 32 attempts, good for a .500 attack percentage of her own.

Wittenberg also enjoyed the usual strong all-around performances from Jan Kehres with 12 kills and 15 digs and Emily Bell with 11 kills and a team-high 16 digs. Another key for the Tigers was defense as Emily Dixon posted a season-best 10 block assists, part of a 14-block night for the Tigers.

Ohio Northern, which saw its season end at 27-9 overall after winning the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season championship, had significant trouble getting through the Wittenberg blocks and it showed as only Vuyk reached double figures with 12 kills. Katie Weininger was solid with nine kills and a .412 attack percentage and Springfield native Erika Roof distributed 38 assists in her career finale. Rounding things out, Karlee Kanuckel led all players with 19 digs.

Wittenberg, the No. 1 seed and the fifth-ranked team nationally, will take on third-seeded Calvin in the regional final Saturday at 7 p.m. in the HPER Center.