Season Ends In NCAA Tournament With Loss To Trinity.(TX)

Rome, Georgia - Wittenberg women's volleyball had plenty of momentum heading into the NCAA Division III Touirnament, and the Tigers turned in another inspired performance in their first round match against 11th-ranked Trinity (TX). Despite posting a better attack percentage in three of the four sets, Wittenberg couldn't hang onto leads in the first, third or fourth frames en route to a 3-1 loss.

Wittenberg closes out the season with a record of 16-14 overall. Ten of the Tigers' 14 losses came against teams that qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament. Trinity advanced to the second round of the national competition, taking a 29-4 overall record with it.

In the opening set, Wittenberg trailed until senior Tyler Linkhart (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Yellow Springs) went on a four-point serving run to give the Tigers from Ohio a 19-18 lead. It was short-lived, however, as the Tigers from Texas closed out the first frame by winning seven of the last 11 points.

Wittenberg bounced back well in the second set, scoring the first four points and leading from start to finish for a 25-19 victory. However, in the third and fourth sets, Wittenberg built five-point leads both times only to see Trinity rally late to secure wins by scores of 25-21 and 25-23.

Senior setter Mack Rickets (Marrow, Ohio/Little Miami) dished out 40 assists in the loss, with 15 of those helpers resulting in kills by sophomore Kaili Worcester (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty). Freshman Kait Colahan (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion) added 12 kills, junior Kendall Black (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) and sophomore Alana Bartulovic (Cleveland, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) contributed eight kills, and Linkhart rounded out the top offensive contributors with seven kills.

Defensively, Wittenberg was paced by sophomore Ally White (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) with 25 digs, followed by Ricketts with 13.