Wittenberg Moves Into Sixth Straight Regional Final With Sweep Of Heidelberg
The Wittenberg Tigers are into the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region championship match for the fifth time in the last six years after a 3-0 win over Heidelberg.
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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers are into the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region championship match for the fifth time in the last six years after a 3-0 win over Heidelberg.
The win moved the No. 1-ranked Tigers to 36-0 on the season and into a showdown with No. 10-ranked Ohio Northern in the regional final at 7 p.m. Saturday, also in Wittenberg's HPER Center. By scores of 30-20, 30-15, 30-25, the Tigers defeated the Student Princes for the second time in a month to move Heidelberg, which was making its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, to 27-11 overall.
The difference in the match was Wittenberg's efficiency around the net as the Tigers pounded 53 kills on an attack percentage of .232 and recorded 13 blocks. Those numbers stand in contrast to totals of 29 kills, .035 attack percentage and seven team blocks for Heidelberg. As a result, Wittenberg simply rolled to big leads in each of the three games and kept the pressure up throughout.
Wittenberg's offense was spearheaded by the senior outside hitting duo of Jan Kehres and Emily Bell, who combined for 25 kills in 65 attack attempts. Kehres also led the Tigers in digs with 24, while Bell added 16. The team leader in that area was junior libero Laura Fender, who compiled 21 in the match.
Also of note for Wittenberg was the play of senior middle hitter Caitlin Augustus, who finished with a match-high of six blocks, including three solos, and five kills and an attack percentage of .455. She also broke the school record for career blocks during the match.
On the other side of the net, Heidelberg was paced offensively by Emily Hurlburt with seven kills and Morgan Magers with 24 assists. The Student Prince defense picked up 15 digs from Kendra Orwig and five blocks from Hurlburt.
Wittenberg and Ohio Northern have a history of meeting in the NCAA Tournament. Most recently, the Polar Bears staged an epic rally to capture a 3-2 win in 2003 before the Tigers won 3-1 in the regional semifinal in 2005. Both of those matches were played at Wittenberg.