Lisa Rusch

The Wittenberg women’s soccer team had some momentum going into the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, but the Tigers, part of a three-way tie for second place in the regular season standings, fell in the semifinals at nationally ranked Denison, 2-1.

The Tigers, who started the season 8-0, fell to 14-5 overall with the loss after posting a 5-3 mark in the NCAC regular season. Wittenberg now awaits the decision of the NCAA Division III Tournament selection committee, which will announce the brackets for the national competition on Sunday night. The Tigers, who have never reached the national tournament, are one of several regionally ranked teams around the country hoping for an at-large berth.

Before losing to Denison, the Tigers won back-to-back 2-0 decisions against Hiram and Wooster on Oct. 22 and 29 to gain entry into the four-team event. A loss in either game would have knocked the Tigers out of the NCAC Tournament.

Sophomore forward Lisa Rusch (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) is the Tigers’ leading scorer for the second straight year with six goals, five assists and 17 total points. The only other player to reach double figures in points for the defensive-minded Tigers was sophomore midfielder Amanda Farrell (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland), who finished the regular season with five goals and 11 total points.

Rounding out the offense, sophomore forward Sydney Bates (Loveland, Ohio/Milford) scored three goals, and all of them were game-winners. Bates and Rusch shared team honors in game-winning goals. Bates was named NCAC Player of the Week for her game-winning score against Wooster.

The Tigers allowed just 10 goals all season as sophomore goalkeeper Meghan O’Rourke (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) spearheaded a defense that recorded a school-record 13 shutouts, bettering the mark of 11 set in 1995 and equalled a year ago.

Details about the Tigers’ season can be found on the team's schedule/results page and season statistics page.

Regular Season Complete

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Levi Van Reeth

The Wittenberg men’s soccer team put the wraps on an encouraging 2005 season with a 3-0 loss at Ohio Wesleyan in the semifinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Tigers played one of the most challenging schedules in all of NCAA Division III, with nine of the 10 teams ranked in the final Great Lakes Region poll appearing on it. In spite of the schedule, a spate of injuries and a youthful roster, Wittenberg posted its first winning season since 2001 while qualifying for the now six-year-old NCAC Tournament for the first time in school history.

Rounding out the campaign with a 7-6-6 overall record, including a mark of 4-2-3 in the NCAC regular season, the Tigers also made some history. The six ties equalled the NCAA Division III record for ties in a season, matching the total posted by Ithaca during the 1995 campaign. The previous school record for ties in a season is three.

Wittenberg outscored opponents by a narrow 30-27 margin, led by freshman midfielder Matt Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) with eight goals, six assists and 22 total points. Two other freshmen scored nine points apiece, forwards Shane Price (Minford, Ohio/Minford) and Mike Conley (Xenia, Ohio/Beavercreek).

None of those players earned an NCAC Player of the Week honor in 2005, however. That went to senior Levi Van Reeth (Norwich, Ohio/John Glenn), who scored a goal in a 7-1 win over Wabash on Oct. 26 and then had a game-tying score against Wooster on Oct. 29. The latter goal was the one that earned the Tigers a tie and a berth in the NCAC Tournament.

Defensively, the Tigers recorded four shutouts as junior Adam Horrocks (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) started 18 of the 19 games in goal. He finished with a sterling saves percentage of .814.

Details about the Tigers’ season can be found on the team's schedule/results page and season statistics page.

Regular Season Complete

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Nicole Irvin

The Wittenberg field hockey team battled all season, and while the Tigers’ three-year run atop the North Coast Athletic Conference came to an end in 2005, a lot of positives can be found.

The Tigers capped the season with a 2-1 loss at Wooster in the NCAC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday. In the four-year history of the four-team NCAC Tournament, the Tigers had never played a game away from home and they had never lost. But that all changed with the defeat at Wooster, which tied with Wittenberg for second place in the regular season standings but earned the right to host the semifinal game on tiebreaker criteria.

The Tigers ended the campaign with a 10-8 overall record and a mark of 8-4 in the NCAC, one game behind Oberlin. Ironically, Wittenberg swept the two meetings with the Yeowomen, but the Tigers suffered a costly season sweep at the end hands of fourth-place Denison.

Three players finished in double figures for scoring in the season - junior forward Katy Barrett (Powell, Ohio/Watterson) with 23, including a team-best 11 goals, junior defender Holly McHugh (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) with 16 and senior Julia Wickham (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) with 13. Barrett had four game-winning scores and McHugh finished with three.

Defensively, the Tigers were up and down, recording five shutouts but also allowing their opponents a whopping 281 shots in 18 games. Sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Irvin (Gettysburg, Pa./Littlestown) recorded 29 saves, one short of the NCAC record and eight shy of the school record, in a regular season-ending win at Oberlin on Oct. 29, and she finished the season with an outstanding saves percentage of .874.

Details about the Tigers' season can be found on the team's schedule/results page and season statistics page.

Next: Regular Season Complete

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Jackie Williams

The Wittenberg volleyball team will have to follow an unfamiliar path to their customary spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament this weekend when the Tigers travel to Hiram for the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Tigers are not the NCAC regular season champion, hence Wittenberg hits the road Friday for the semifinals and, hopefully, finals of the conference tournament. The honor of hosting the event goes to Hiram for the first time ever after the Terriers went 8-0 in the NCAC, including a 3-1 win over Wittenberg on Oct. 7, the first loss for the Tigers in conference regular season action since 1997.

Wittenberg, which is now 27-4 overall, has been the NCAC Tournament champion every year since 1996, when Ohio Wesleyan dealt the Tigers a 3-2 defeat. The tourney titlist gains an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, and the second-seeded Tigers are hoping to gain entry in that manner for the ninth straight year with a semifinal win over third-seeded Denison on Friday and then a win in the championship match on Saturday against either fourth-seeded Wooster or top-seeded Hiram.

The Tigers have a great deal of momentum heading into the NCAC Tournament. Since the loss to Hiram, Wittenberg has reeled off 12 consecutive wins, including four straight last weekend in the Wittenberg Fall Classic. The Tigers stand sixth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and first in the Great Lakes Region in polling done by the NCAA. Wittenberg has finished the regular season ranked first in the region three straight years, and in two of them went on to advance out of the regional bracket of the NCAA Division III Tournament to compete in the national quarterfinals. Last year, Wittenberg lost in that round to La Verne, 3-0.

In recent weeks, Wittenberg has been dominating, winning nine of their last 12 matches by 3-0 scores, including a lop-sided victory over 23rd ranked Carthage during the Fall Classic. The catalyst on offense has been freshman outside hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat), who has been amazingly efficient. For the season, Williams has an attack percentage of .369, just a few points off Tiffany Keller’s school record of .373 established in 2000.

Williams has had several matches with an attack percentage above .400 as she has become one of the team’s primary offensive options. She is one of four outside hitters with more than 200 kills this season, a testament to the Tigers’ balance.

The team leader in kills is sophomore outside hitter Emily Bell (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) with 294, and she has been almost as good on defense with 454 digs, third-most on the team. Sophomore outside hitter Jan Kehres (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) stands second on the team in both kills and digs, while freshman libero Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) leads with 620 digs.

Details about the Tigers' season can be found on the team's schedule/results page and season statistics page.

Next: 11/4 vs. Denison
NCAC Tournament Semifinals

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Tyler Harmon

The Wittenberg football team has two weeks left in the 2005 season, and there are still some things left to accomplish. While the NCAA Division III Tournament is out of reach for the third straight year, the Tigers, who are 4-4 overall and 4-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, have their sights set on second place in the NCAC for the fourth straight year and a 49th winning season in the last 51 years, the best among schools in the NCAA the entire time.

Wittenberg fell out of first place with a 26-20 loss at Wabash on Oct. 22, a game in which for the third time this season the Tigers led a quality opponent on the road in the second half only to lose. The nationally ranked Little Giants have one conference game remaining, while Wittenberg has games against Wooster on Nov. 5 and Allegheny on Nov. 12 still on the schedule. If Wabash loses to Denison and the Tigers win out the two teams can still share the title, but the Little Giants hold a tiebreaker thanks to the head-to-head win.

The Tigers rebounded from the loss at Wabash with a convincing Homecoming and Reunion Weekend victory over Ohio Wesleyan. In the 31-9 win, the Tiger defense continued its resurgence, led by NCAC Defensive Player of the Week Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian). Harmon, a converted fullback after back-to-back All-NCAC seasons on offense, had his best game since moving to linebacker with career-highs of 16 total tackles and eight solo tackles.

In addition, senior defensive tackle Tyler Jenkins (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) finished with a career-high 11 tackles, including 2.5 for loss.

Offensively, the Tigers picked up an efficient peformance from junior quarterback Geron Stokes (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana), who improved to 3-0 as a starter in the Red & White with a 17-for-22, 199 yard, three touchdown performance. Senior tailback Tristan Murray (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) topped the 100-yard mark for the sixth time in eight games this season and senior wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) caught three passes for 92 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown. Already the school record-holder for career receptions, Glover is closing in on records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns as well.

Also of note is the conclusion of the career of senior quarterback Ryan Holmes (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda). After suffering an injury in the season opener, Holmes came back as quickly as possible to gain playing time against Earlham on Oct. 8 and then start against Hiram on Oct. 15. However, Holmes suffered the same injury again at Wabash and found out after the game that his collegiate career was officially over. With 272 passing yards in that game, Holmes moved into second place in school history for career passing yards, behind only National College Football Hall of Fame honoree Charlie Green.

Details about the Tigers' season can be found on the team's schedule/results page and season statistics page.

Next: 11/5 vs. Wooster

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Courtney Roth

The Wittenberg men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have kicked off the 2005-06 season with a strong finish in the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays on Oct. 22 at Kenyon and a split against arch-rival Wooster in an Oct. 29 dual meet.

At the NCAC Relays, the Tiger women placed fourth, just four points behind Allegheny in the chase to follow national powerhouses Kenyon and Denison. The Tiger men placed fifth, tied with Allegheny with 78 points.

The Tigers’ best finish in the NCAC Relays was turned in by the quartet of senior Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County), senior Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), sophomore Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands) and freshman Mackenzie Yamamoto (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) in the 200-yard breaststroke event. Wittenberg placed fifth in that event.

On the men’s side, the best finish was also in the 200-yard breaststroke relay as the quartet of junior Ben Weible (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), sophomore Ryan Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon), sophomore Jordan Brown (Lexington, Ky./Tates Creek) and junior Matt Reiss (Beavercreek, Ohio/Dayton Carroll) finished sixth.

Against Wooster, the Tiger women won 136-101 behind Searcy and her three individual wins. Also of note were a pair of diving wins by sophomore Courtney Roth (Gurnee, Ill./Lake Forest) and first-place finishes by senior Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) and junior Jenny Mulligan (Cheyney, Pa./Delaware Valley Friends).

The Tiger men fell 126-113 to Wooster. Junior Cody Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden) won both diving events, while Ryan and Corey Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) and sophomore Nick Pierson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) all enjoyed individual victories during the meet.

Details about the Tigers' season can be found on the team's schedule/results page.

Next: 11/4 vs. Ohio Wesleyan
11/5 vs. DePauw

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Chris Petrik

The Wittenberg men’s and women’s cross country teams ran hard, but they didn’t finish as well as Head Coach Steve Shutt had hoped last week at the North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet. Denison, which won the women’s title, hosted the meet as the Tigers placed eighth in the women’s competition and ninth in the men’s competition, both for a second straight year.

The Tigers will wrap up the 2005 season at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship meet Nov. 12 at Wilmington. Wittenberg’s runners would have to drop substantial amounts of time to advance to the national meet, which is scheduled for the following weekend at Ohio Wesleyan.

The Tiger women finished with 215 team points, well behind seventh place Wooster. Freshmen Erin Hedrick (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and Abby McCutcheon (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) led the way for the Tigers, which put all five scoring runners in the top 50. Hedrick finished 34th in a time of 25:52, while McCutcheon was 41st in 26:09.

The Tiger men finished with 255 team points, also well behind seventh place Wooster. Two runners placed in the top 50 as sophomore Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North) placed 40th in 28:31 and senior Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield Heights) crossed the finish line in 29:08, good for 50th place.

Details about the Tigers' season can be found on the team's schedule/results page.

Next: 11/12 NCAA Great Lakes Regional @ Wilmington