Tiger Women’s Volleyball Falls to Denison in NCAC Semifinals

GRANVILLE, OH – It was an evenly-played, hard-fought battle, but it was ultimately one that Wittenberg's Women's Volleyball would not win.

Seeking to avenge their only loss of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season just over two weeks ago, the top-seeded Denison Big Red were on a mission against Wittenberg and managed to pull out a 3-1 victory in the NCAC Tournament semifinals by set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-17, and 25-23, on Friday, Nov. 15, at Livingston Gymnasium. Denison will take on second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan in the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 16, also at Denison, after the Battling Bishops defeated DePauw, the No. 3 seed, in the other semifinal match, 3-0, by set scores of 25-3, 25-23, and 25-19.

Wittenberg, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 17-10 after finishing in a three-way tie for second place in the NCAC with Ohio Wesleyan and DePauw with a 5-2 record. Denison improved to 13-13 overall. The semifinal loss was just the second time since 1992 that Wittenberg has fallen short of the NCAC Tournament title match.

Wittenberg came out strong in the first set behind the hot offense of Clare O'Malley (Avon, OH / St. Joseph's Academy) and Piper Ricketts (Morrow, OH / Little Miami) to go on a 12-6 run to complete the 25-19 victory. The next set went back and forth between the two teams with Denison outlasting the Tigers to record the 25-23 win. The Big Red had the momentum rolling from that point, which carried over into the next two sets to claim the victory.

Kait Colahan (Vermilion, OH / Vermilion) led the Tigers in kills with 14 and 16.5 points, Alana Bartulovic (Cleveland, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) added 12 kills and 14 points, and O'Malley and Kaili Worcester (Powell, OH / Olentangy Liberty) each had nine kills. O'Malley made just two attack errors to finish with a stellar .389 attack percentage, while Colahan also topped .300 while committing just four errors on 33 swings.

Mary Sulfridge (South Charleston, OH / Southeastern) handed out 44 assists to round out her tremendous freshman season, and Ricketts landed three service aces while scooping up 15 digs. Other Tigers in double digits in the dig department were Ally White (Harrison, OH / Harrison) with a team-high 16, Cam Colahan (Vermilion, OH / Vermilion) with 13, and Ava Golem (Kirtland, OH / Kirtland) with 10.

Team totals for Wittenberg included 49 kills on 148 total attacks for a solid .209 attack percentage. The Tigers pounded nine service aces and were credited with 20 total blocks.

Denison was led by Ayla Dunbar with 21 kills, Alice Kempf with 45 assists, and Sadie Habeeb with five service aces and 18 digs. Team totals for Denison included 59 kills and 170 total attacks for a .200 attack percentage to go along with, nine service aces and eight total blocks. The separation between the two teams was just five points in the match.

Last year, Wittenberg defeated Denison in the quarterfinals, 3-0, then defeated Ohio Wesleyan, 3-1, to advance to the finals against DePauw. Witt then pulled out a 3-2 victory over DePauw to claim the championship.

Written By: Cindy Holbrook; Photo Below: Dani Johnson, NCAC Assistant Commissioner