Posted by: Ryan Maurer

Casey Clagett

Emily Figel

The 2002-03 tennis season got off to a rousing official start last weekend as the men's team traveled to Greencastle, Ind. for the 2002 Omni Hotels/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's Division III Central Region Singles Championship at DePauw University. Both the Wittenberg men and women had hosted flighted tournaments at mostly Division I competition in previous weekends, but the regional tourney annually kicks things off for Division III teams.

And what a kick-off it wound up being. Senior Casey Clagett (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs), a quarterfinalist at the event each of the last two years, emerged as the singles champion, becoming the first Tiger player, male of female, to win the crown. To do it, Clagett, the No. 2 seed in the competition after last year's 23-4 singles record, had to win six matches in three days, including three straight three-setters in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

Clagett capped off his weekend by winning the singles in dramatic fashion, 75, 4-6, 6-2 over top-seeded Ben Crandell of Principia. As a result, he advanced to the Omni Hotels/ITA National Small College Championship Tournament on Oct. 17-20. The event is hosted by H.E.B. Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In addition to Clagett, several other Tigers turned in fine performances. Seniors Eric Cusick (Lima, Ohio/Senior) and Mike Herzog (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) each won two singles matches, and Herzog teamed with senior Ben Hodgkiss-Lilly (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) to win two doubles matches before getting bounced in the quarterfinals by the eventual champions from Washington University.

The women's tournament is scheduled for Oct. 5-7 at Wittenberg's Albright Tennis Courts. Last year, Tiger freshman Emily Figel (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) worked her way through to the championship match. She likely will be one of the top seeds in this year's event after finishing 19-5 overall a year ago and making the NCAA Division III championship tournament in the spring.

Next: Women's ITA Regional Tourn. at Wittenberg 10/5-7

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Emilie Schmid

Tiffany Keller

The Wittenberg volleyball team had another succesful weekend after hosting, and winning, its own invitational tournament by claiming victories in all four matches over two days. The tournament title came on the heels of three straight 3-0 NCAC victories over Earlham, Allegheny and Kenyon over the last week, victories which put the preseason favorite Tigers on track for a fifth straight undefeated conference regular season.

The Tigers' first victory of the weekend came at the expense of Mount Union, 3-1, despite losing the only game of the weekend. Senior middle hitter Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) and sophomore outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) played brilliantly, claiming 38 kills between them. They were helped greatly, as always, by sophomore setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson), who contributed 64 assists.

Case Western was the next victim as the Tigers yielded just 43 points through the entire match, won by Wittenberg 3-0. Praise must be heaped on sophomore outside hitter Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), who contributed 16 kills on offense and 17 digs on defense. On Saturday, it was more of the same as the only two unbeaten teams in the tournament, Wittenberg and Calvin, squared off. Once again, the home team came away with the 3-0 victory through the efforts of McDonald and Keller, who had 12 kills apiece, and Yuskewich, who distributed 41 assists.

The final match of the tournament featured another Tiger sweep, this time against nationally ranked Ohio Northern in the championship. Sixty-one assists from Yuskewich and 15 kills from McDonald helped the team to the final win.

Keller made the all-tournament team in recognition of her outstanding play. The accolades continued to roll in on Monday as she was named NCAC Player of the Week. For the weekend, Keller finished with 62 kills (3.8 per game average), six stuff blocks, eight assists and .523 kill percentage.

Wittenberg returns to conference action this weekend at Oberlin in an NCAC tri-match with Wooster. The Tigers have not lost an NCAC match since October 1997.

Next: 10/5 @ Oberlin, 1 p.m.
10/5 vs. Wooster (@ Oberlin), 3 p.m.

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Katie Houchens

Emily Duh

The fairy tale perfect start to the season continued last week as Tiger field hockey team claimed two more victories to race out to a 9-0 overall record, including a 5-0 mark in the NCAC record. As a result, the Tigers continued to hold strong in the national rankings that are dominated by traditional east coast powers, moving up two spots to No. 12. Wittenberg has the most wins of any team in the poll, which was released Monday evening.

Last week, the victims were Kenyon on Tuesday by a 2-0 score and Ohio Wesleyan by a 5-0 count. Senior forward Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) continued her outstanding season with one goal against Kenyon and then four against OWU to take her total for the season to 13 in just nine games. Duh, who had a second-half hat trick against the Battling Bishops, leads the conference and ranks among the nation's best, with 13 goals and 32 total points. No other player in the NCAC has more than six goals or 13 total points.

Against visiting Kenyon, the win was a little more difficult than the final score indicated. Duh and sophomore forward Katie Houchens (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver), who increased her season goal total to four, scored goals in the final 20 minutes of a hard-fought game. Junior forward Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) and sophomore midfielder Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) both provided assists.

On the defensive side, sophomore goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) was again outstanding as she recorded yet another shutout win. Going into the weekend, Meyer led the NCAC and ranked among the top five nationally in saves percentage.

Saturday's win over Ohio Wesleyan was yet another shutout victory for Meyer and the veteran defensive unit, which has yet to concede a goal to NCAC competition this season and allowed just three all season. Duh turned from scorer to provider for the last goal, setting up Sarah Wallace (Reston, Va./South Lakes).

The Tigers hope to continue their perfect start this week at Earlham in an NCAC game on Wednesday and then back home against Wooster on Friday. The Scots won the conference title a year ago and are currently alone in second place, just one game off the pace.

Next: 10/2 @ Earlham, 4 p.m.

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Daniel Grove

Dustin Goldsbury

The Wittenberg football team is off to a perfect 3-0 start for the fifth time in the last six years. In each of the previous four years, including last year when Wittenberg went 2-1 to start the year, the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Division III playoffs by virtue of an outright NCAC championship.

The road toward a fifth straight outright crown and a sixth consecutive championship overall (Wittenberg tied Allegheny and Wooster for the top spot in 1997 and the Gators were awarded the automatic bid based on tiebreaker criteria) begins this weekend as the Tigers host Denison at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield. Last week, the Tigers put the wraps on yet another perfect non-conference slate with a 31-6 decision at Thomas More.

Playing on a field decimated by the remnants of Hurricane Isidore, Wittenberg kept things simple against its hosts on Saturday. The Tigers scored touchdowns on their first four possessions, each of which was set up by outstanding defensive efforts that gave Wittenberg a significant field position advantage. Senior tailback, and scoring machine, Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont) rambled for three of the scores to run his total to an NCAC-best 10 on the still-young season, and sophomore fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) chipped in with a score as well.

Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) had a fine first half, guiding the Tigers' ball-control offense well before misfiring on his last five passes before halftime. For the game, Cornett finished with a season- and regular season career-high 297 yards on 16 completions.

On the defensive front, senior linebacker Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus, Ohio/Ready) was named to the NCAC Player of the Week thanks to his three tackles, which included two drive-killing sacks for a loss of 14 yards, and one interception. In addition, senior safety Andy Waddle (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) topped the Tigers with five solo tackles and two assisted tackles. Wittenberg posted two more sacks, one each for Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) and Gary George (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) for a total loss of 28 yards.

Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport-Madison) was again the go-to man for Cornett, picking up 95 yards over six catches, and Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) was a close second with three catches for a gain of 78 yards, his longest a 78 yard catch-and-run that set up a first-half touchdown.

Next: 10/5 vs. Denison, 1 p.m.

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Matthew Berry

Stefan Christman

The disappointing start to the 2002 season continued for the men's soccer team last week with a pair of road defeats. The Tigers have now matched their loss totals for each of the last two seasons.

The Tigers started out with a 2-1 loss at Wilmington on Wednesday in a final non-conference tune-up. Despite taking an early lead on a goal by freshman Matthew Berry (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) off an assist by Stefan Christman (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), the Tigers couldn't hold on and went down to another one-goal loss, their fifth of the season. The game-winning goal came with just 15 minutes left to play in the second half, perhaps a less cruel fate than the four overtime losses the Tigers have already absorbed this season.

On Saturday, the Tigers lost another tight match, falling at Allegheny 2-0 in Wittenberg's NCAC opener. Senior goalkeeper/defensive back Josh Curtis (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) played well in net but surrendered two second-half tallies to account for the Tigers' defeat.

If Wittenberg is to get things turned around, they must take things one game at a time, beginning with a winnable opponent today in Earlham. A huge test comes Saturday as perennial conference power Denison comes calling on Parents Weekend in Springfield.

Next: 10/1 @ Earlham, 4 p.m.

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Kaitlin Hiscar

The overtime loss bug is contagious, and now it has spread to the women's soccer team. For a team that has lost four 1-0 games - three in regulation - and is struggling to score goals without injured team leader Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) that isn't good news. The Tigers went into last week's matches with an NCAC win under its belt and hope that a turnaround was imminent, despite Woessner's injury, which was suffered against Elmhurst on Sept. 22. Once again, however, momentum was not seized and a pair of losses to Cedarville and Allegheny ensued.

On Wednesday, in a game taped by Time Warner Cable and scheduled for cablecast at 8 p.m. on Oct. 2 and 8 p.m. on Oct. 5, Wittenberg dropped a 2-1 decision to visiting Cedarville. Despite taking the lead in the first half on a goal by junior Kaitlin Hiscar (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) the Tigers couldn't hang on. A goal by Cedarville with less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock tied things and then an overtime tally made the difference. Then on Saturday, the Tigers traveled to Meadville, Pa. and probably never should have gotten off the bus, falling to Allegheny 7-0.

Wittenberg will attempt to turn things around this Saturday against neighborhood rival Urbana on Wednesday. The Tigers are also in action on Saturday of Parents Weekend with a 1 p.m. game opposite NCAC foe Kenyon.

Next: 10/2 vs. Urbana, 4 p.m.

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The Tigers were off last weekend and continue to train this week before making their annual trek to the huge Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Oct. 5.

Next: 10/5 at Loyola (Ill.) Lakefront Invitational

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Andy Bonar

The Tiger golf team has gotten a facelift in 2002, starting at the top with first-year coach Scott Isphording. Several of the team's top players have opted to concentrate on their studies, leaving some voids but also some tremendous opportunities that a precocious group of freshman have capitalized upon.

Wittenberg has participated in fall tournaments that included some of the best competition in the midwest each of the last two weeks. At the Denison Invitational two weeks ago, the Tigers finished 11th of 14 teams and were paced by sophomore Andy Bonar (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster), a second-team All-NCAC performer a year ago, who carded a 154, good for 20th place.

At Otterbein last weekend, the Tigers had a better showing, finishing fourth in the eight-team field. The competition was pared down to one round due to rain, and Wittenberg was paced by freshman Clinton Anderson (Mechanicsburg, Ohio/Mechanicsburg), who was sixth with a 76.

Next: 10/13-14 @ DePauw