Posted by: Ryan Maurer

Sarah Yuskewich

Monica McDonald

Tiffany Keller

The Tiger volleyball team clinched its sixth straight North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship over the weekend, defeating three straight conference rivals by 3-0 scores. The tourney title came on the heels of a sixth straight outright NCAC regular season title as well, and it earned Wittenberg an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament.

That tournament opens on Thursday with matches at eight regional sites around the nation. One of those is Wittenberg, which will play host to the Great Lakes Regional competition. The Tigers are the No. 1 seed, followed by Mount St. Joseph, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Catholic and Kalamazoo.

In the NCAC tournament last week, the Tigers opened by defeating No. 8 seed Earlham 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. They began the weekend with a semifinal victory over No. 4 seed Hiram as sophomore outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) showed the way with 10 kills and three aces. Sophomore setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) did the job again, contributing 39 assists to her conference-leading total. Sophomore Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) added 12 digs.

The championship match was a close encounter in the first game with Wittenberg edging Denison 30-25. The second was also close until Wittenberg, with a slim 9-7 lead, found another gear and went on a 10-0 rampage midway through the game. The third and final game of the championship was more typical as the Tigers dominated the game and the opponents coming back with a late rally. For the match, McDonald dominated with 17 kills, while junior Lindsay Nelson (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) checked in with 13 kills, senior Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic) finished with 16 digs and Yuskewich distributed 46 assists.

Individually, Wittenberg had a successful weekend with three players named to the NCAC All-Tournament team. McDonald was named MVP, and she was joined by Yuskewich and senior middle hitter Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) on the team.

Wittenberg, ranked No. 3 in the nation and riding a six-match winning streak, plays the winner of Thursday's first-round match between Catholic and Ohio Northern in a regional semifinal on Friday. The winner of that match advances to the regional championship, a position the Tigers have never advanced beyond previously.

Next: 11/15 vs. TBD
NCAA Division III Tournament
Great Lakes Regional
at Wittenberg University

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Emily Duh

Sarah Wallace

It was a good weekend to be a Wittenberg Tiger. The field hockey team followed the volleyball squad's lead by winning the first-ever NCAC tournament championship with a 6-2 demolition of Wooster Saturday night at Edwards-Maurer Field. The tourney title capped a remarkable regular season for the Tigers that included a regular season NCAC championship and now an invitation to the NCAA Division III tournament for the fifth time in school history and the first time since 1998.

To the victors go the spoils, and once again it was a Tiger player claiming tournament MVP honors as senior forward Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley), who contributing three goals in the victory over Wooster, earned the honor. Duh had an exceptional game with seven shots and three goals to claim yet another hat trick and run her season totals to 26 goals and 60 points. This wasn't a solo affair, though, and three other Wittenberg players got on to the scoresheet. Sophomore Sarah Wallace (Reston, Va./South Lakes) had four shots and once score, while fellow sophomores Deb Muller (Weston, Conn./The Millbrook School) and Katie Houchens (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver) also managed to get one apiece.

Joining Duh on the all-tournament team were senior defensive back Rebecca Russ (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart), senior defensive back Heather House (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), sophomore goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) and sophomore midfielder Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer).

The Tigers have now advanced to the NCAA tournament and will face a stiff challenge at the regional tournament site at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. After a first-round bye, Wittenberg squares off with nationally ranked Williams College on Friday afternoon. The other second-round game at that site pits No. 2 ranked Messiah against nationally ranked Plymouth State. The winners play on Saturday for the right to advance to the NCAA Final Four on Nov. 23-24 at Springfield College in Massachusetts.

Next: 11/15 vs. Williams College
NCAA Division III Tournament
at Messiah College

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Jason Stephan

Tim Gaal

It looked like a mismatch on paper, and by game's end, it was exactly that. The Tiger football team, now ranked No. 11 in the nation, scored at will and emptied the bench in the process of defeating Kenyon, 79-0 on Saturday at Edwards-Maurer Field. So many players saw action in the game that the statistics program couldn't keep up. No less than 125 Wittenberg players played at least one snap in the game, including five kickers and seven quarterbacks. Seven different players scored touchdowns, four different players kicked extra points and 39 different players recorded at least one defensive statistic.

The scoring started almost immediately. The first time Wittenberg touched the ball, senior tailback Jason Stephan (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) capped a three-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run, the first of three touchdowns on the day that ran his two-week total to eight. Also in the first half, junior defensive back Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek) blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, freshman wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) had one rushing score and one receiving score, sophomore fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) scored on a five-yard run and senior fullback Trent Coffman (Springfield, Ohio/Northeastern) rounded things out with a seven-yard burst.

In the second half, senior defensive back Geoffrey Moorehead (Columbus, Ohio/East) scored on a 48-yard interception return, freshman tailback Kyle Williamson (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) scored touchdowns from 23 yards and 70 yards and freshman kicker Justin Bockbrader (Columbus, Ohio/Franklin Heights) capped things with a 22-yard field goal on a second down play.

No Wittenberg player had more than nine carries in the game, and every running back who touched it had at least 20 yards for 434 total in the game. Senior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) completed five of eight passes, and the rest of the Tiger signal-callers handed the ball off. Defensively, senior linebacker Andy Pope (Hamilton, Ohio/Lakota East) finished with game-highs of nine tackles, including two for a loss of eight yards. Senior defensive tackle Lloyd Hudson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) was one of four players with at least six tackles, and he topped the team with three tackles for a cumulative loss of 13 yards.

Wittenberg, which is now 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC, wraps up the season this Saturday at Wooster, another 8-1 and 5-1 team. The Tigers must win that game to have a chance to advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs for a fifth consecutive year.

Next: 11/16 at Wooster, 1 p.m.

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Abi Gerstle

Nick Dewald

Wittenberg will be taking part in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional meet this weekend, to be hosted by Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. Leading the charge for Wittenberg will be two-time NCAC individual champion Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), who claimed first place in the event for a second straight year two weeks ago at Wittenberg. Gerstle, a senior, has qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship meet each of the last two years. It is unprecedented in school history for a cross country runner, male or female, to reach the national meet, let alone do it three straight years.

Senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) has been the Tigers' top finisher on the men's team all season. He will be looking to move up from his 29th place finish at the NCAC meet.

Next: 11/16 NCAA Great Lakes
Region Championships
at Ada, Ohio

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Steve Rader

Becca Searcy

Wittenberg competed in back-to-back swimming and diving dual meets last weekend, and performed quite well against quality competition.

On Friday the Tigers hosted a tri-meet with Ohio Wesleyan University and Wilmington College. The Wittenberg men defeated Ohio Wesleyan, 61-42, and Wilmington, 76-18, while the women also posted a pair of convincing wins, defeating Ohio Wesleyan, 83-28, and Wilmington, 92-19.

First-place finishers in the tri-meet included freshman Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County Bloomington) in the 100-yard freestyle 500 free, junior Nicole Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Alter) in the 200 free, junior Courtney Galliger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan) in the 50 free, freshman Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 backstroke, sophomore Catherine Gray (Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands) in the one-meter diving, freshman Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) in the 100 breaststroke and junior Holly Erikson (St. Paul, Minn./Central) in the three-meter diving. On the men's side, blue ribbons were awarded to junior Brandon Morris (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) in the 1000 free, junior Matt Werbach in the 200 free and junior Steve Rader (Painesville, Ohio/St. Ignatius) in the 200 IM and the 100 back.

On Saturday they faced much stiffer competition from defending national champion Kenyon and lost both the men's and women's competition by scores of 146-105 and 154-143 respectively. Rader captured first place finishes in the 200 butterfly and 100 butterfly and junior Kyle Dunaway (Warren, Ohio/Howland) pulled off a win to lead a Tigers sweep in the 400 IM. Kinzeler took the top spot in the 100 free, Galliger claimed first in the 100 back, Searcy won the 200 breast and 200 free and Yeakley took the prize in the 200 back.

Next: 11/15 vs. Wabash (men)
11/16 at Oberlin (both teams)

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B.J. Harris

Danny Brywczynski

Once the Wittenberg Tigers got over a case of the jitters, they proved that David and Goliath sometimes do belong on the same basketball court together. Providing the first opposition for the University of Dayton in its newly renovated arena, the Tigers hung tough with the Division I Flyers before eventually falling 75-67 in an exhibition game last Saturday night.

UD, the preseason No. 2 Atlantic 10 West Division choice in preseason balloting of the media and coaches, jumped out to a 22-6 lead midway through the first half but couldn't put the pesky Tigers away. Wittenberg, the two-time North Coast Athletic Conference regular season champions and the preseason NCAC favorite this year, rallied to tie the game at 45 before getting outscored 30-22 in the final eight minutes of the game.

Senior forward B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds. He scored the Tigers' first six points, and he showed the same kind of form he had a year ago when he was a first-team all-conference choice. He was the only Tiger player to reach double figures in either statistic, although sophomore guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) also had an outstanding game with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and a team-high four assists.

It was an outstanding start for the Tigers, who are ranked No. 23 in the first preseason men's basketball poll on d3hoops.com. Wittenberg opens its season with the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic at the HPER Center on Nov. 22 and 23. The Tigers' first round opponent is Alma, while John Carroll and Ohio Dominican square off in the other semifinal.

Next: 11/22-23 Kiwanis-Wittenberg
Tip-Off Classic