Wittenberg, seeded No. 3 in the region, defeated the sixth-seeded Mariners 15-7, 15-4, 15-7. The Tigers, who are now 31-8 overall on the 2000 season, leaped out to big early leads in each game and were only challenged in the third game by the Mariners, the Skyline Conference champions who completed the season with a 27-9 overall record.

From the left, Teresa Murphy hammered 15 kills against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

With the right hand, Brittany Baume pounded 16 kills against U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Sophomore outside hitter and All-American candidate Brittany Baume (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) and sophomore outside hitter and NCAC tournament MVP Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic) paced the team with 16 and 15 kills respectively. Sophomore setter and the nation's leader in assists Shelli Habegger (Curtice, Ohio/Oregon Clay) contributed 34 assists and freshman middle hitter Sarah Muzi (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) showed her versatility with a team-high eight digs.

Wittenberg returns to the court at Mount St. Joseph tonight at 5 p.m. against the second-seeded Ohio Northern Polar Bears, who enter the tournament with a 28-7 overall record and No. 7 national ranking. The Tigers and coach Connie Surowicz, the school's all-time winningest coach with 192 victories, lost to Ohio Northern in September during the Polar Bears' tournament.

A win would advance the Tigers to their first-ever NCAA regional final on Saturday at 7 p.m. The host school is the first seed in the region.

NEWS & NOTES: The victory by Wittenberg improved the Tigers to 3-5 all-time in NCAA tournament matches. All five of those appearances have come in the last eight years. Last year, the Tigers dropped a first-round match to Thomas More to finish the season with a 21-15 overall record.

AVCA/Sports Imports Division III National Player of the Week Shelli Habegger

Finally, Shelli Habegger (Curtice, Ohio/Oregon Clay), the nation's leader in assists with more than 14 per game, was named the national Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association earlier this week. She was recognized for her performance during the three North Coast Athletic Conference tournament matches the Tigers won last week en route to earning the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Habegger became the Wittenberg career assist leader and also broke the season record during a week in which she averaged 15.77 assists per game (142 assists in nine games) and also added 11 digs, two blocks and two aces against Denison in the tournament championship match.