Tigers Women’s Volleyball Drops NCAC Opener to Ohio Wesleyan

SPRINGFIELD, OH. – Wittenberg's Women's Volleyball dropped its third-straight match to visiting Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Pam Evans Smith Arena, part of the Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex.

It was the first North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) contest of the season for both teams. The loss puts the Tigers at 5-6 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC, while OWU, picked to finish second behind DePauw in the NCAC pre-season poll, improves to 10-7 and 1-0.

Wittenberg came out strong in the first set forcing the Battling Bishops to 12 attack errors and making key blocks to tally a 25-18 win. In the second set, both teams traded points and had seven ties before a couple of attack errors and service aces helped OWU go on a 12-3 run to capture the victory, 25-16. After being tied 4-4 in set three, the Bishops went on a seven-point run and the Tigers couldn't recover, falling 25-14. With the momentum in their favor, OWU took a 3-2 lead early on and never looked back in set four to top the Tigers, 25-17 to claim the 4-1 win.

Piper Ricketts (Morrow, OH / Little Miami) led the Tigers in kills with nine and Kendall Black  (Defiance, OH / Defiance) added seven more. Mary Sulfridge (South Charleston, OH / Southeastern) tallied 18 assists, and Ava Golem (Kirtland, OH / Kirtland) led the team in digs with 19, while Bryn Wilhelmus (Louisville, KY / Mercy Academy) added 11. Clare O'Malley  (Avon, OH / St. Joseph's Academy) had five blocks and six kills.

Team totals for the Tigers included 33 kills, 32 assists, and 63 digs. 

Natalie Dieball led the Bishops in kills with 14, Megan Lantis added nine, and Lily Bechina had 27 of their 35 assists and led the team in digs with 18. 

Several attendees wore either gold shirts or gold ribbons for pediatric cancer awareness during the match.

The Tigers will hit the road on Tuesday, Oct. 1, to take on Earlham at 7 p.m.