Phil Steffes

The Wittenberg men's basketball team is now riding a 13-game win streak and appears to be peaking at just the right time. The Tigers have won four games since the last report, improving to 18-2 overall and 10-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, good for a first-place tie with Wooster.

Ranked ninth in the nation, the Tigers are doing primarily with rebounding, defense and fundamentals, an equation that could propel this veteran team to postseason heights not seen in these parts since 1994 and the Final Four team of Head Coach Bill Brown's first season at the helm of the Red & White. Wittenberg ranks in the top three nationally and first in the conference in rebounding margin (+13) and defense (holding opponents to 54 points per game). Amazingly, the Tigers have not allowed more than 51 points in a game since the calendar flipped to 2005.

On Jan. 24, Wittenberg showed no ill-effects of a two-day delay due to a major snowstorm, knocking off Hiram by a 78-46 score on the Terriers' home court. The Tigers improved to 47-2 all-time against Hiram and have never lost to the Terriers since they joined the NCAC in 2000.

The Tigers raced out to an 8-0 lead to start the game and never looked back. By halftime, Wittenberg stretched the lead to 25-14, and then in the second half, an 18-4 run midway through the frame put things out of reach. Wittenberg showed tremendous offensive balance, led by junior post Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) with 11 points and six rebounds. Junior wing Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading) added 11 points and five rebounds in just 18 minutes off the bench, senior guard Kenny Molz (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) chipped in with 10 points and four boards, junior guard Phil Steffes (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) finished with 10 points and junior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) was solid as usual with eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Just two days later, the Tigers ended Earlham's five-game win streak with a 75-48 defeat of the Quakers. It marked five full years without an NCAC regular season home loss for the Tigers.

Wittenberg never trailed in the game, but Earlham was within striking distance until midway through the second half. A 10-0 Wittenberg run, highlighted by a thunderous Russ putback dunk at the 7:41 mark, helped the Tigers increase their lead from 25 points. Russ scored a team-high 18 points, and he also added a game-high nine rebounds. Senior wing Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) contributed 12 points, and Borchers scored 11 points. As a team Wittenberg was 17-of-18 from the free throw line, including Russ' 10-of-10.

Perhaps the biggest game of the last two weeks was an 87-49 statement against the Denison Big Red on Jan. 29. Two months after upsetting Wittenberg on its home court, 89-79 in double overtime, Denison trailed Wittenberg, 9-8, in the first seven minutes of the game. Then the Tigers' offense came alive with a 19-2 run coming out of a timeout. In racing out to a 30-point lead by halftime, Wittenberg had runs of 16-0 and 14-0.

Borchers had a team-high 15 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the field. Two players added 12 points each for the Tigers, Bucheit, who also went 6-of-7 from the field, and Brady, who shot 4-of-5. Molz added 11 points. As a team, Wittenberg was customarily dominant on the boards, outrebounding the Big Red 48-21 as Borchers contributed eight rebounds.

Rounding things out, the Wittenberg Tigers won a defensive struggle, 56-48, at Wabash on Feb. 2, hardly a surprise in a game between the top two defensive teams in the NCAC.

Wabash led most of the first half and took a 21-17 advantage into the locker room. But the Tigers tied the game almost immediately in the second half and then put together a key 9-2 run a few moments later to take a lead they would never relinquish. Borchers had his best game of late, pouring in 21 points and seven rebounds to the cause. Bucheit added 10 points, all in the second half, and Molz added nine tallies off the bench.

The Tigers are back at it against Hiram on Saturday and then on the road at Earlham on Feb. 9, their final two tune-ups for the Feb. 12 home showdown with Wooster. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Next: 2/5 vs. Hiram, 4 p.m.

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Ali Rohlfs

The Wittenberg women's basketball team continues to show its age. With most of their players in the rotation in the freshman and sophomore classes at Wittenberg, the Tigers have gone through their share of highs and lows this season as they build for the future and compete for a fourth straight North Coast Athletic Conference regular season title simultaneously.

While the latter goal is now somewhat unlikely, the Tigers still have a great deal to play for as they head into the home stretch of the season. Wittenberg is 12-8 overall and 8-3 in the NCAC, solid numbers for a young team that opened the season 1-4 while playing five teams with records currently at least six games over .500. The Tigers are tied for second in the NCAC, in the middle of a pack of teams that are all at least two games behind league-leader Kenyon.

On Jan. 22, Wittenberg jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes against visiting Earlham and cruised to a 76-56 victory.

Rebounds played a key role in the match-up as the Tigers won that battle by 12. The Tigers also harrassed the Quakers into 28 turnovers, compared to 20 for Wittenberg. Senior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) led the Tigers with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. In addition, sophomore post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) contributed 11 points and freshman post Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) had 10 points. Also of note was the play of junior guard Brittany Landreth (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso), who had seven steals, just two short of the school record.

In their next outing, the Tigers lost their shooting touch and even a stout defensive effort against NCAC-leading Kenyon couldn't make up for it in a 35-33 road loss on Jan. 26. It was the second time in two weeks that the Tigers held Kenyon to 35 points, but amazingly the two teams split the games.

A scoreless stretch of 9:16 to close the game squandered a seven-point lead as Kenyon chipped away until taking the lead on a jumper with five seconds left.

Only junior guard Carrie Jones (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville) offered any consistency offensively, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. Schmid added five points and Hittle added a team-high eight rebounds.

On Jan. 29, the Tigers rebounded from that tough loss with a 71-61 victory at Oberlin. The Tigers were led by freshman post Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame), who contributed 11 of her team-high 17 points in the first half. Senior guard Alison Nahrup (Loveland, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) had a game- and career-high 10 rebounds, Schmid contributed 13 points and Hittle added 10.

Rounding things out, the Tigers captured a key 78-63 home victory over visiting Ohio Wesleyan on Feb. 1. It was the Tigers' seventh straight win over OWU.

For Wittenberg, the story was welcome offensive balance, keyed by a season-high 50 percent shooting performance from three-point range. With opponents focusing their defense on the Tigers' post players, guard play becomes even more crucial, and Wittenberg found some of it against the Bishops.

The Tigers picked up 16 points and eight rebounds from Gregorevich in her first career start, while Hittle enjoyed a record-setting night with seven points, eight rebounds and a school-record five blocked shots, one better than the mark previously shared by three players. As a team, Wittenberg finished with 11 blocks, tying a school record set in 1993 against Denison.

Rohlfs contributed 12 points and four rebounds, all offensive, in 16 productive minutes off the bench, Schmid was solid with seven points, seven rebounds and five steals and sophomore guard Megan Miller (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) finished with 13 points in 14 minutes off the bench.

The Tigers are back at it again this weekend with a pair of key home games. On Friday, Allegheny, which is tied for fourth place and just one game back in the standings, visits the HPER Center. Hiram comes calling on Saturday. A pair of wins would all but lock up a home game in the quarterfinal round of the NCAC Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 22-25.

Next: 2/4 vs. Allegheny, 6 p.m.
2/5 vs. Hiram, 2 p.m.

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Courtney Roth

The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams have reached the big moment, and after three meets in the last two weeks as primers, first-year Head Coach Natalie Koukis has high hopes that the Tigers are ready to make a big splash at the North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet in Canton, Ohio, Feb. 10-12.

The dual meet season concluded with meets against Ohio Northern at home on Jan. 21, Wright State on the road on Jan. 28 and Case Western Reserve at home on Jan. 29. The men beat ONU but lost the last two for a 6-6 finish to the 2004-05 dual meet season. The women beat ONU and CWRU and lost to NCAA Division I Wright State to cap their duals campaign at 8-3 overall. For the women, the strong finish in the dual meets buoyed hopes for an equally strong finish in the conference championship meet, which will feature three of the top 10 teams in the nation in Kenyon, Denison and Wooster. The Tigers have been slowly making up ground on the league's heavy-hitters in recent years, including a school-record point total in 2004 en route to a fourth-place finish.

Against Ohio Northern, the Tiger women won 129-98 as sophomore Katie Spittler (Lexington, Ky./Catholic), junior Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County), sophomore Shantel Sechrist (Saltsburg, Pa./Saltsburg), freshman Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands), freshman Courtney Roth (Gurnee, Ill./Lake Forest), sophomore Colleen Costigan (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), sophomore Jen Mulligan (Cheyney, Pa./Delaware Valley Friends), junior Leslie Banas (Huntington Woods, Mich./Mercy) and junior Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) all claimed individual victories.

Against Wright State, Searcy won three times, including the 1650-yard freestyle in which she posted an NCAA B Cut time, while junior Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) also claimed an individual first. Rounding things out, Searcy was good for three more wins in a 137-101 victory over Case Western. She was joined in the winners' circle by freshman Lindsay Smith (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon) and Roth with two wins and Yeakley and Conner with single victories.

For the men, there was a 129-105 win over Ohio Northern, followed by a pair of fairly decisive losses. Still, there were plenty of individual highlights, starting with two individual wins apiece against ONU by sophomores Matt Reiss (Beavercreek, Ohio/Dayton Carroll) and Cody Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden). Also touching the wall first were sophomore Sean Wolf (White Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central), freshman Brian Harris (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) and senior Jonathan Newcomer (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area).

After getting shut out against Wright State, the Tigers rebounded with individual victories from senior Blake Troxel (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell), freshman Corey Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) and freshman Ryan Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon).

Next: 2/10-12 @ NCAC Championships

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Gregg Carter

The Wittenberg men's and women's indoor track and field teams got off to decent starts to the 2005 season in the last two weekends, including a pair of fifth-place finishes at the Marietta Invitational on Jan. 22 and deceiving finishes of fifth and seventh at the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays on Jan. 29 at Denison.

The results at the NCAC Relays were deceptive because the teams were without several key performers due to injury or illness, and then the men's 800-meter relay was botched on the final leg with a dropped baton despite a big lead. Still, a lot of young athletes got their first taste of collegiate competition and made the most of it.

At Marietta, the men were led by senior Joe Rumschlag (Maumee, Ohio/Toledo Christian), who finished in the top three in three different events, freshman D.J. Hlovchiec (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Moeller), who was second in the pole vault with a mark that just missed the school record, and freshman David Emrath (Elsmere, Ky./Lloyd), who was first in the 500 meters.

At the NCAC Relays, Rumschlag had the best finish with the best triple jump in the competition. He was also part of the second-place long jump relay with sophomore Gregg Carter (Wellsville, Ohio/Wellsville). Two other relays finished second as well: the sprint medley with Carter, Rumschlag, Emrath and freshman Sean Gouch (Columbus, Ohio/Mifflin) and the 1600-meter relay with Rumschlag, Emrath, Gouch and junior Chad Kresser (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay).

On the women's side, freshman Nicole Bailey (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) was the top finisher at the Marietta Invitational as she placed third in the 55 meters and second in the 200 meters. At the NCAC Relays, the team's top finish was produced by the members of the shot put relay as freshman Allison Walker (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Academy) and junior Michele Gardner (Bellevue, Ohio/Norwalk St. Paul) took third place.

Next: 2/4 at Cedarville