Wittenberg Head Coach Paco Labrador recently won the 100th game of his career.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – State pride is on the line this weekend at Wittenberg University.

The Tiger volleyball team, ranked eighth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division III poll, hosts the second annual Border Battle, featuring four of the top NCAA Division III teams from Ohio against four of the top teams from Michigan in a unique round robin format, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 15-16, in the HPER Center. Four rounds of matches will start at 1 p.m. on Friday and another four rounds will commence at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The Border Battle is the first of three regular season tournaments Wittenberg will host during the 2006 season. The Tigers will be joined on the Ohio side of the competition by Ohio Northern University, Denison University and Capital University. Those four squads, two of which are ranked in the top 20 in the latest AVCA poll, will square off against the Michigan side, comprised of Alma College, Adrian College, Hope College and Calvin College.

“The Border Battle is guaranteed to be two days of heated, championship-caliber NCAA Division III volleyball,” said Wittenberg Head Coach Paco Labrador. “ Michigan and Ohio are both exceptional volleyball states from high school to club and all levels of college.

“Last year Ohio won the tournament, so I’m sure the Michigan teams have been anxiously waiting for the rematch this weekend.”

Sophomore Jackie Williams (11) leads the Tigers in kills in 2006.

The host Tigers are off to a 6-3 start to the 2006 season, their fourth under Labrador, who recently won his 100th career match. Wittenberg is coming off a 34-5 season in 2005, one that included a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) tournament championship and an NCAA Division III Tournament run all the way to the national semifinals, the best finish in school history. Paced offensively by sophomore outside hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat), the team leader in kills, and defensively by sophomore libero Laura Fender (Toledo, Ohio/ St. Ursula), the team leader in digs, the Tigers have picked up right where they left off a year ago.

A year after Ohio teams won 14 of 16 matches in the inaugural Border Battle, the Buckeye state’s teams once again appear formidable, even without nationally ranked Mount St. Joseph and Hiram in this year’s field. Ohio Northern, ranked 18th in the latest national poll and regular season champion of the rugged Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) each of the last six years, is off to a deceiving 5-5 start. All five of the Polar Bears’ losses have come against teams listed in the national rankings. Capital is coming off its best season in school history, including an OAC Tournament title and the program’s first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. The Crusaders, who are receiving votes in the latest national poll, carry a 6-2 record into this weekend’s competition, with both losses to top-25 teams. Denison won its first six matches of the season before a 3-2 upset loss at Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday. The Big Red have averaged 20 wins per season for nearly a decade and have eached the NCAC Tournament semifinals eight straight years.

Alma, Adrian, Calvin and Hope are four of the top teams in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). Alma, an NCAA Division III Tournament participant two of the last three years, is off to a 3-3 start to the 2006 season, including a 1-1 mark in the MIAA. Adrian is an up-and-coming program with a 5-3 record, including a 2-1 mark in the conference. Hope won the 2005 MIAA regular season title and sports a 4-2 record, including a 2-0 mark in the MIAA. Calvin is undefeated with records of 7-0 and 3-0 in the MIAA. The Knights are receiving votes in the AVCA poll after reaching the Great Lakes Region championship match a year ago, losing to Wittenberg, 3-0, in the HPER Center.

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