Tigers Finish Border Battle 4-0 As Ohio Dominates Overall

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Caitlin Augustus

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers remained perfect in the 2007 Border Battle and on the entire season as well with a pair of 3-0 wins Saturday in the friendly confines of the HPER Center.

With Day 2 victories over Alma by a 30-18, 30-23, 30-22 score and 10th-ranked Calvin by a 30-26, 30-27, 32-30 score, the Tigers improved to 14-0 overall. Wittenberg finished a perfect 4-0 in the Border Battle, a mark matched only by 18th-ranked Ohio Northern during the two-day event. Overall, the teams from Ohio won 12 of the weekend's 16 matches.

In Saturday's opener for the home team, the Tigers put 18 players in the match against Alma. Among the starters, senior outside hitter Emily Bell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) finished with six kills and 12 digs, senior outside hitterJan Kehres (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) added 11 kills, six digs and two aces and senior outside hitter Lindsey Penrod (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua) had an efficient four kills on four attempts in one game. Sophomore middle hitter Kate Snead (Westerville, Ohio/North) also was solid with nine kills.

The match the Tigers pointed toward most during the weekend was a meeting with Calvin, the NCAA Division III Tournament Great Lakes Region runner-up each of the last two years to Wittenberg. The Knights had toppled Wittenberg 3-1 in this same competition a year ago before the Tigers regrouped to advance to the national semifinals for a second straight year.

The Tigers jumped out to small leads in each of the first two games and held off the feisty Knights, but Game 3 was a different story. Calvin held the lead for much of the game and served for it at 29-28, but Wittenberg rallied late to win it.

One of the keys was the net presence of Wittenberg's middle hitting duo of seniorCaitlin Augustus (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and junior Jessica Kimble (Dennison, Ohio/Claymont). They combined for 14 blocks in the match, including one solo apiece in the late run that captured Game 3 and the match for Wittenberg.

Offensively, the Tigers continued to spread the ball around expertly. Bell led with 11 kills, while junior outside hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat)and Kehres added nine kills each. Bell was also solid on defense with 16 digs, while junior libero Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) showed the way in that department with 18 digs.

Also of note, the setting duo of senior Sarah Matesich (Granville, Ohio/Newark Catholic) and sophomore Erin Slattery (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) each distributed 17 assists in the match. Kehres added two service aces.