Tiger Women's Volleyball Caps Regular Season With Wins Over OAC Rivals

SPRINGFIELD, OH – Wittenberg Women's Volleyball is coming together nicely at the right time of the year. The Tigers picked up two more home wins behind offensive powerhouse Alana Bartulovic (Cleveland, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) in the season-ending NCAC/OAC Crossover event on Friday, Nov. 8, at Pam Evans Smith Arena, part of the Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex.

Wittenberg and Denison represented the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and took on two teams from the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) in a friendly competition labeled the NCAC/OAC Crossover. Wittenberg was victorious against OAC members Ohio Northern and Heidelberg by matching 3-2 scores, while Denison lost to the same two teams by 3-0 and 3-2 scores, respectively.

Wittenberg's two wins both came in exciting fashion, with each going to the distance. The Tigers improved to 16-9 overall, including a record of 11-3 since the start of October, and Wittenberg clearly has some momentum heading into the NCAC Tournament that starts with a quarterfinal match against Hiram at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, in Pam Evans Smith Arena.

The Tigers defeated Ohio Northern by set scores of 25-21,19-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-6 in its first match and then outlasted Heidelberg in the second match by set scores of 19-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 17-15.

Against ONU, three Tigers hit double digits in kills with Alana Bartulovic (Cleveland, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) tallying a team-high 18 kills and 20 points, Clare O'Malley (Avon, OH / St. Joseph's Academy) added 16 and registered 16.5 points, and Kait Colahan (Vermilion, OH / Vermilion) added 12 (12.5 points). Mary Sulfridge (South Charleston, OH / Southeastern) had a team-high 47 assists. Ally White (Harrison, OH / Harrison) led the team in digs with 34, while Cam Colahan (Vermilion, OH / Vermilion) added 19, and Ava Golem (Kirtland, OH / Kirtland) recorded 10. White also led the team in service aces with three. Team totals for Wittenberg were 63 kills, 214 total attacks, 51 assists, 10 service aces, 89 digs, and four blocks.

Team leaders for Ohio Northern were Olivia Baumann with 13 kills, Grace Conrad had 34 assists, Rachel Jennings led in digs with 24. Team totals included 54 kills, 196 total attacks, 41 assists, five service aces, 92 digs, and eight blocks. Ohio Northern is now 20-8 overall after picking up a win over Denison. Denison drops to 12-13 on the season.

In the battle of the 'Bergs, Bartulovic had an even better performance. The junior landed a team-high 23 kills and 72 total attacks for 23.5 points against Heidelberg. She also had eight digs and a block. O'Malley added 10 kills, one solo block, and 11 points. Sulfridge recorded a team-high 37 assists and eight digs and White led the team in digs with 33, while Cam Colahan added 15 more. Team totals for Wittenberg against Heidelberg included 65 kills, 232 total attacks, 55 assists, four service aces, and 100 digs.

Leaders for Heidelberg were Grace Porter and Riley Tople with 10 kills each, Olivia Miller and Maddie Reed each had 17 assists, and Grace Smith had 24 digs. As a team, Heidelberg, now 14-15 on the season, registered 50 kills, 194 total attacks, 44 assists, three service aces, 94 digs, and 17 blocks.