Tigers Remain Unbeaten With 3-2 Road Win Over No. 9 Juniata

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Wittenberg volleyball team took to the road for the first time in 2012 and pulled out a 3-2 win over ninth-ranked Juniata on the Eagles' home floor.

The win, on opening day of the Juniata Asics Invitational, moved the fifth-ranked Tigers to 4-0 on the young season and extended Wittenberg's winning streak to 16 straight, dating back to a loss at Wisconsin-Whitewater in October 2011. The loss was Juniata's first of the season after five straight victories.

The youthful Tigers grew up in a hurry against Juniata, rallying on multiple occasions to pull out the victory. After Juniata won the opening set 25-23, Wittenberg evened things out with a 25-19 second-set win. The Hawks again moved ahead in the third set with a 25-19 decision, before the Tigers again pulled even with a 25-19 win in the fourth set.

In the fifth set, Wittenberg jumped out to an 8-3 lead and never looked back, holding off two determined Juniata runs to pull out a 15-10 victory.

The Tigers' offense was keyed by the superb play of freshman Kara Seidenstricker (Plain City, Ohio/London), who cracked 17 kills to go along with 11 digs and three blocks defensively. She was backed by junior Andrea Behling (Columbus, Ind./North) with 13 kills and four blocks, and senior Jessica Batanian (Sylvania, Ohio/Notre Dame) with 12 kills and 18 digs.

Sophomore Meghan Vodopich (Canton, Ohio/Perry) and senior Hallie Donathan (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) dished out 22 and 24 assists, respectively, while senior libero Christina Gilene (Milford, Ohio/McNicholas) came up big as usual with 30 digs.