Tigers Break Conference Record, Clinch NCAC Title

Rachel Wolverton

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers continued to roll through the 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) schedule, cruising past Earlham 3-0. Along the way, the Tigers clinched a 12th outright NCAC regular season title in 13 years (fourth in a row) while breaking the conference record with their 64th consecutive NCAC regular season victory.

Wittenberg's 37th win over Earlham in 41 all-time meetings moved the seventh-ranked Tigers to 19-3 overall and 15-0 in the NCAC. It was Wittenberg's 32nd straight win in the series, dating back to an Earlham win in 1990. The Quakers, who likely played Wittenberg for the last time as a member of the NCAC (Earlham has been accepted into the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, starting in the 2010-11 school year), dropped to 4-23 overall and 2-12 in the conference.

Twenty different Wittenberg players saw action in the match as the Tigers rolled up a stellar .343 attack percentage, compared to Earlham's -.150. The Quakers managed just 12 kills against 24 errors in 80 attack attempts.

Individually, Wittenberg was paced by sophomore Hillary Monnin (Russia, Ohio/Russia) with six kills, followed by sophomore Elyse Adams (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and freshman Rachel Wolverton (London, Ohio/London) with four kills apiece. Wolverton finished with a .500 attack percentage as she put away four of her six attack attempts in just her second appearance of the 2009 season.

Defensively, freshman Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) was tops in digs with nine. She also finished with three aces, while sophomore Kimmie Dyer (Copley, Ohio/Copley) added two. Both players ripped off lengthy serving runs during the match that accounted for the lopsided final set scores of 25-12, 25-7 and 25-9.

After almost a month of NCAC competition exclusively, the Tigers head to nationally ranked Heidelberg on Friday and Saturday for three matches with both regional and national implications. On Friday, Wittenberg will take on the Student Princes. On Saturday, the Tigers will square off with nationally ranked Carthage and Webster, one of the top teams each year in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference