Posted October 10 2001, 01:38 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg University women's volleyball team hosts its first Wittenberg National Invitational this weekend, featuring one of the strongest fields seen anywhere in the country this year. The tournament will be a two-day round robin with action opening at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12 and winding up with two matches 24 hours later on Saturday, Oct. 13. The teams, which will each play four matches in the two days, will compete on two courts in Wittenberg's HPER Center.
Joining the host Tigers, the four-time defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions who are currently ranked No. 12 in the country, are Thomas More College, Mt. St. Joseph College, Juniata College and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Thomas More is the only team not ranked in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll. Mt. St. Joseph, which has beaten Wittenberg five straight times over the last two years, is ranked No. 2 and undefeated in Division III matches in 2001. Wisconsin-Whitewater, last year's national runner-up, is now No. 1 in the nation. Juniata, which entered this season on a phenomenal 236-match Middle Atlantic Conference win streak and has finished three of the last six seasons ranked No. 1 in the country, is ranked No. 5.
"To be the best, you must play the best," said Wittenberg head coach Connie Surowicz, now in her seventh season with the Tigers. "The quality of competition in this tournament is as good as you will find anywhere in the country. We are really looking forward to seeing how we stack up with some of the best teams in the entire country."
The Tigers head into tonight's game against NCAC rival Ohio Wesleyan with a 15-4 record, including a perfect 5-0 mark in the NCAC. In their first three tournaments of the regular season, the Tigers have two second place finishes at Mt. St. Joseph and Elmhurst and a third in the Wittenberg Invitational Tournament on Sept. 28-29. In each case, the Tigers went into the final match of the weekend with a perfect mark in the tournament only to lose and miss out on the championship hardware.