Posted by: Ryan Maurer

Sarah Yuskewich

Monica McDonald

Tiffany Keller

Teresa Murphy

They say the third time is a charm. In the case of the Wittenberg volleyball team, it was the fourth time. After three previous trips to the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional championship match, the Tigers finally broke through on Saturday by defeating Mount St. Joseph 3-0 (30-26, 30-18, 30-24).

The Tigers advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals for the first time in school history, and the Tigers now face Wisconsin-Whitewater, champion of the Midwest Regional. The Tigers had previously advanced to the regional championship match on three occasions (1995, 1997 and 2000). Wittenberg picked up the big points at the big moments in the win over Mount St. Joseph, especially when sophomore outside hitter Monica McDonald (Newark, Ohio/Catholic) was on serve. In the decisive third game, in particular, McDonald's jump serve wreaked havoc as the Tigers went on three different three-point runs at key moments. The Tigers, the No. 1 seed and third-ranked team in the nation in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, got 21 kills from McDonald. They also picked up 52 assists from sophomore setter Sarah Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson), as well as four digs, three block assists and a crucial solo block during the last of the aforementioned three-point runs in the third game. In addition, senior outside hitter Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic) had 11 kills and a game-high 25 digs.

The Tigers also came on strong at the right times on Friday to capture a semifinal round victory over No. 4 seed Ohio Northern, 3-0 (30-25, 30-26, 30-24). Wittenberg, which avenged a loss to Ohio Northern in this round of last year's NCAA Division III tournament, got an outstanding performance from Yuskewich, who distributed 50 assists and 20 digs to the Tigers' cause. Her primary offensive target was McDonald, who pounded 16 kills to lead both teams. Joining McDonald in double digits offensively were Murphy with 13 kills, junior Lindsay Nelson (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) with 11 and senior middle hitter Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) with 10. Three players reached double figures in digs, including sophomore Emilie Schmid's (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) 20 and Murphy's 14.

This Just In: Sarah Yuskewich was named NCAC Player of the Year and Connie Surowicz garnered Coach of the Year honors for a third time in balloting conducted by the coaches. Yuskewich was an honorable mention selection a year ago, and she was joined on the first team in 2002 by Tiffany Keller and Monica McDonald. Teresa Murphy, who was on the first team the last three years, was squeezed off in 2002 and received second team honors.

Next: 11/23 vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater
NCAA Division III Quarterfinals

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Daniel Grove

Dustin Goldsbury

The Tiger football team lives to play another day. The Tigers received one of three Pool C bids into the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Wittenberg will play at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. at noon, Saturday, Nov. 23.

This is the Tigers' fifth straight trip to the NCAA Division III Playoffs and 11th overall since the division was created in 1973 (Wittenberg also won the inaugural Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in 1969 as a member of the NCAA College Division). Wittenberg has an overall playoff record of 16-8. The Tigers won national titles in 1973 and 1975 and finished second in 1977 and 1979, all under the direction of National College Football Hall of Famer Dave Maurer. Under Fincham, Wittenberg is 6-4 in the national competition and has advanced to the quarterfinal round each of the last two years, only to lose to eventual national champion Mount Union College.

Hanover enters the playoffs with a perfect 10-0 overall record and the No. 9 ranking in the nation. The Panthers won the 2002 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. Last Saturday, the Tigers pulled out a crucial victory at the College of Wooster to ensure themselves an opportunity to play in the national competitition. Playing in rain, cold and lots of mud, the Tigers came up with four huge defensive plays with the game - and season - on the line to pull out a crucial 14-9 victory over the Scots.

The biggest play of the game came with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter when senior linebacker Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus, Ohio/Ready) came clean on a blitz to sack the Wooster quarterback, force a fumble and then recover it as well. Wittenberg then ran out most of the clock, but when the Scots got it back senior defensive end duo of Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) and Allen D'Andrea (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) combined to register one final sack.

The great defense, a trademark of the Tigers, who have ranked first in total defense in the NCAC 10 of the last 11 years, didn't overshadow the phenomenal efforts of senior tailback Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville, Ohio/Claymont). Grove, playing his first game since breaking two bones in his foot five weeks earlier in an overtime loss to Wabash, posted 212 yards on 34 carries. It was Grove's second 200-yard rushing day in 2002 and his fourth in the last two seasons. He finished the season 929 yards and 16 touchdowns on 129 carries in just six games.

Grove's biggest carries of the game came immediately after two of the aforementioned huge defensive plays. After senior Andy Waddle (Springfield, Ohio/Greenon) intercepted a Wooster pass early in the fourth quarter, Grove went 27 yards on the second play of the ensuing possession to give the Tigers a little breathing room at 14-3. Then, after Wooster closed to within 14-9 but were stopped on Goldsbury's sack, Grove went 31 yards deep into Scots territory, which allowed the Tigers to nearly run out the clock.

The fourth huge defensive play was made by junior cornerback Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek), who intercepted his first pass of the season in the first quarter, which led to Wittenberg's first scoring drive. Sophomore fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima, Ohio/Elida) capped that eight-play, 74-yard drive with a 22-yard run.

Senior quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin, Ohio/Franklin) finished 13-for-22 passing for 120 yards and freshman wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) topped the team in catches with six for 50 yards.

Defensively, Goldsbury, the team's leading tackler, finished with seven stops, including two for a total loss of 13 yards. Lackmeyer and senior linebacker Ryan Gresham (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor) added six total tackles and one for loss each.

While it wasn't much of a day for offense, Wittenberg did break two school and NCAC offensive records. The Tigers broke the record for total points in a season (485) and points-after-touchdowns in a season (57). Wittenberg came into the game leading the nation in scoring with 52.3 points per game and concluded the regular season averaging a phenomenal 48.5 points per outing.

Next: 11/23 at Hanover, Noon
NCAA Division III Playoffs

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Rebecca Russ

Emily Duh

The high-scoring Tiger field hockey team, champion of the 2002 North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, was defeated 3-0 by Williams College in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament Friday afternoon at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. Williams was champion of the Northeast Athletic Conference and the 14th ranked team in the country coming into the tournament. Wittenberg, ranked 13th by the American Field Hockey Coaches Association, finishes its season at 17-4 overall.

Wittenberg was outshot 16-3 overall and the Ephs attempted eight penalty corners to the Tigers' two. Tiger sophomore goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) managed to turn away seven Williams shots.

The season may be over, but two Tiger field hockey standouts do have one more game to play. Senior forward Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) and senior sweeper Rebecca Russ (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart) have been selected to participate in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III North/South Senior All-Star game, a prestigious annual event to be held at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.

Duh put together one of the finest seasons in school history in 2002, scoring a school-record 60 total points on a school-record-tying 26 goals and eight assists. Russ will go down in the Wittenberg annals as one of the finest defensive player ever to don a Tiger uniform. She recorded 20 career defensive saves, tops in school history, and she also scored two goals and six assists in her career on 40 shots.

Next: Season Complete

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Abi Gerstle

The Wittenberg men's and women's cross country teams put the finishing touches on the 2002 season last weekend at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional meet at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. While the teams are finished for the season, however, one individual continues on again.

Senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship meet for a third straight year by finishing ninth in the region and grabbing one of five individual berths in the national meet. In order to do this, Gerstle had to run a personal best and school record time of 22:37 and pass a runner from Mount Union with about 200 meters to go.

This is the third consecutive year in which Gerstle qualified for the national meet, adding to her long list of accomplishments. Gerstle was the first Wittenberg female to make the national meet when she advanced in 2000, the first Tiger runner to make it two times when she qualified in 2001 and, of course, broke new ground when she advanced to this weekend's meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.

In addition, Gerstle was the first Wittenberg runner, male of female, to capture first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2001. She repeated that feat this year.

Other female runners to finish with personal best times were freshman Tracy Butler (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) in 24:03, junior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall) in 24:17, sophomore Marissa Davoll (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) in 25:49, junior Lindsay Veit (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota) in 26:09 and junior Nikki Norcia (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) in 26:33. Wittenberg finished 16th in the 33-team field.

On the men's side, senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) led the way with a 94th-place finish in a season-best 27:29. Junior Tim Damopoulos (London, Ohio/London) had a season-best in 28:13 and freshman Caleb Arnold (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) had a personal best in 28:28. The Tigers finished 26th among men's teams.

Next: 11/23 NCAA Great Lakes
Region Championships
at Ada, Ohio

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Blake Troxel

Becca Searcy

Wittenberg's men's swimming and diving team competed twice and the women took to the pool once last week, all against NCAC opponents. The results were a 122-112 loss for the men against Wabash on Friday and a pair of big wins over Oberlin on Saturday.

Against Oberlin, the men got particularly strong performances from junior Steve Rader (Painesville, Ohio/St. Ignatius) in the 200-yard freestyle and 200 butterfly. He won both events. Also putting together outstanding times in the meet were sophomore Blake Troxel (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell), who had a first in the 200 breaststroke and a second in the 200 Individual Medley, junior Steven Barry (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River), who finished second in the 200 breast and junior Kyle Dunaway (Warren, Ohio/Howland), who took second in the 500 free with a time of 5:21.73.

On the women's side against Oberlin, top times were turned in by freshman Leslie Banas (Huntington Woods, Mich./Mercy) in the 1,000 free (she won the event by 40 seconds), freshman Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) in the 200 free, freshman Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County Bloomington) in the 200 IM, junior Nicole Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Alter) in the 200 backstroke and the 50 free, junior Courtney Galliger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan) in the 50 free and junior Jessica Forsberg (Wickliffe, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) in the 50 free. Galliger, Kinzeler and Forsberg swept the 50 free.

Against Wabash, individual winners included Rader, Troxel, junior Matt Werbach (Painesville, Ohio/Hawken) and junior Alex Berger (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay). The meet was tight down to the end, with the Little Giants' diving performance playing a key role since Wittenberg does not have any competitors in men's diving currently.

Next: 11/23 vs. Hiram, 1 p.m.

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Brian Armstrong

Matt Lapish

Steve Doring

Three Wittenberg men's soccer players earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors in balloting just announced this week.

Senior forward Brian Armstrong (Delaware, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) was rewarded for his hard work and NCAC-leading 34 total points with a first-team designation, the first of his career. Junior midfielder Steve Doring (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne) and senior midfielder Matt Lapish (Grosse Point Farms, Mich./South) both were named to the second team.

The Tigers finished the 2002 season strong, winning five of their last six games to finish 5-4 in the NCAC and 7-10-1 overall.

Next: Season Complete

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Emily Hiscar

Geri Woessner

Rachel Ridgeway

The Wittenberg women's soccer team placed one athlete on the All-NCAC second team and two more among the honorable mention selections.

Freshman midfielder Emily Hiscar (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) was named second team. Junior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), who was the team's leading scorer despite missing half the season with a knee injury, and sophomore midfielder Rachel Ridgeway (Montclair, N.J./The Taft School) were both named honorable mention.

The Tigers finished an injury-plagued 2002 season with a 6-12 overall record, including a solid 3-5 mark in the NCAC. Three of the top 20 teams in the country finished ahead of Wittenberg in the final conference standings.

Next: Season Complete

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B.J. Harris

Kevin Longley

Wittenberg, home to the winningest men's basketball program in NCAA Division III history, has plenty of question marks on the hardwood in 2002-03, but a deep roster of talented returning players and another outstanding recruiting class promise to provide plenty of positive answers.

Coming off back-to-back North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championships and appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament, Wittenberg returns two starters and six letterwinners. The Tigers have posted a combined record of 50-10 in the last two seasons, including a sparkling 30-2 mark in NCAC regular season action.

The 2002-03 season could provide even more highlights. Wittenberg's two returning starters are first-team All-NCAC choice B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins), a 6-7 post player with a soft touch, and two-time second-team All-NCAC selection Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), also a 6-7 post player whose rebounding prowess and power moves offer the perfect compliment. Harris led the Tigers in scoring (12.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.2 boards per outing), while Longley was second in both categories at 9.7 and 8.8 respectively.

Harris and Longley will be joined by a supporting cast that both talented and experienced. Sophomore point guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) takes over the starting role after coming off the bench in every game last year and finishing with an outstanding assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.4. Junior guard Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) was the team's top three-point shooter in 2001-02 with 60 triples and a shooting percentage of .422 from beyond the arc. Sophomore wing Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) played in all 30 games a year ago and contributed 6.8 points per game, and junior wing Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) was a force off the bench a year ago and ranked fourth on the team in scoring and third in rebounding.

Wittenberg heads into the 2002-03 season with a target on its back and a challenging schedule to provide plenty of opportunities for the marksmen. Among the non-conference foes are perennial national title contender Ohio Northern, defending national champion Otterbein, both on the road, and possible match-ups against NAIA power Ohio Dominican in the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic and against 2002 national tournament participant Franklin at that team's tournament.

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

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Kate Rolf

Stephanie Campbell

The Tiger women's basketball team figures to be back to its traditional winning ways again in the 2002-03 season. Coming off a 21-6 overall record and an outright regular season conference title in 2001-02, the Tigers return 10 letterwinners and three starters in hopes of building on those accomplishments this year.

Five outstanding seniors, all of whom will play an important role on this year's team, lead the long list of letterwinners in 2002-03. Senior guards Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) lead the charge for a third consecutive season starting together in the backcourt. Rolf paced the Tigers in scoring, rebounding and assists each of the last two years while earning All-NCAC honors twice. Campbell ranked second on the team in scoring and rebounding and led the Tigers in steals each of the last two years.

The third returning starter is forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw), who always joins the team late due to time commitments as one of the top volleyball players in the Great Lakes Region. Keller started the last 19 games of the 2001-02 season and ranked among the team's leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocks and shooting percentage after earning NCAC Volleyball Player of the Year honors during the fall season.

The other starting spots are up in the air, with two other seniors figuring prominently in the mix. Senior forward Meghan Bruggeman (Middletown, Ohio/Fenwick) came on strong last year after seeing limited playing time her first two seasons in Springfield. She is a strong post player who averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 2001-02. The other senior is post Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline), who has appeared in every game the last two years, primarily off the bench. Last year, she averaged 4.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per outing.

Other returning letterwinners include junior guard Christina Fischer (Norwood, Ohio/Cincinnati St. Ursula), junior forward Haley Warden (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Indian Hill), junior guard Amber Bishop (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and sophomore guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), who will join the team after the conclusion of Wittenberg's run in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament. The other returner is junior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood), who is sidelined until February with a knee injury suffered during soccer season this fall.

Wittenberg has its usual difficult schedule, including three teams with winning records involved in the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic Nov. 22-23 at the HPER Center. Among the other heavyweights the Tigers will face this year: perennial national title contenders Baldwin-Wallace, Capital, DePauw and Calvin.

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