Great Lakes region volleyball

[David Collinge]

#8 Wittenberg puts the hammerlock on the NCAC title (again) by whitewashing Hiram, 26-24, 25-12, 25-18.  Hiram had been extended by lowly Earlham earlier in the day, squeaking past the hosts by the nailbiting scores of 25-22, 27-25, 25-19, and evidently just couldn't muster the energy to challenge the dominant Tigers.  Wittenberg, which later in the afternoon dispatched Allegheny in straight sets, is now 12-0 in conference action, two games (loss column) ahead of the Terriers.  Wittenberg faces Denison and Oberlin tomorrow, and two more wins would guarantee at least a share of the conference title, which would be their 12th in 13 years.

Complete standings after Day 1 of the Power Weekend:
Wittenberg 12-0, 16-3
Hiram 8-2, 15-9
Wooster 8-3, 17-6
Allegheny 6-5, 12-13
Denison 5-5, 6-18
Oberlin 4-6, 11-13
Earlham 2-8, 4-20
Kenyon 1-9, 4-21
Ohio Wesleyan 1-9, 1-23 (congratulations to the Bishops, who beat Denison today 14-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 15-10 to get off the schneid)

[WLCALUM83]

Heidelberg gets Wittenberg at home later this afternoon to kick off a big quad meet:

http://www.heidelberg.edu/athletics/teams/wvolleyball/2009/quad

[David Collinge]

Heidelberg won that matchup, 3-2 with a 15-10 win in set 5.  Wittenberg rebounded to drop ninth-ranked Carthage 3-1, and Carthage then turned around and whitewashed the host Student Princes 3-0.  All three ranked squads dismissed Webster, leaving them all with 2-1 records for the quad meet.  However, Heidelberg benefited by having their big win be in-region, as opposed to Wittenberg's (and Carthage's, a Midwest region team.)

Heidelberg link

Returning to conference action this evening, Wittenberg polished off Ohio Wesleyan in straight sets to complete their 16-0 run through the NCAC.  The win was their 65th straight in regular season NCAC play, a conference record.  This weekend, the eighth-ranked Tigers head to San Antonio for another non-conference tournament hosted by the 18th-ranked Trinity Tigers which will also feature the top two teams in the current AVCA poll, #1  Juniata and #2 UW-Oshkosh. 

[WLCALUM83]

Heidelberg won that matchup, 3-2 with a 15-10 win in set 5.  Wittenberg rebounded to drop ninth-ranked Carthage 3-1, and Carthage then turned around and whitewashed the host Student Princes 3-0.  All three ranked squads dismissed Webster, leaving them all with 2-1 records for the quad meet.  However, Heidelberg benefited by having their big win be in-region, as opposed to Wittenberg's (and Carthage's, a Midwest region team.)

Heidelberg link

Returning to conference action this evening, Wittenberg polished off Ohio Wesleyan in straight sets to complete their 16-0 run through the NCAC.  The win was their 65th straight in regular season NCAC play, a conference record.  This weekend, the eighth-ranked Tigers head to San Antonio for another non-conference tournament hosted by the 18th-ranked Trinity Tigers which will also feature the top two teams in the current AVCA poll, #1  Juniata and #2 UW-Oshkosh. 

Sounds like when it comes to NCAC play Wittenberg is the equivalent of D1's Penn State!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope over Calvin last night in 3-2 at Calvin.  Attendance - 2775!!!

25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 25-12, 15-6

Sounds like a great match.  Hope really took control after loosing a tight 3rd set.

[oldknight]

Hope over Calvin last night in 3-2 at Calvin.  Attendance - 2775!!!

25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 25-12, 15-6

Sounds like a great match.  Hope really took control after loosing a tight 3rd set.

It was well worth attending. The atmosphere was electric, the fans were pumped, and VandeStreek made sure he had his entire basetball team in the very front row in what ultimately proved to be a vain attempt to intimidate the ladies from Hope. Alas, Hope's women were stout on the frontline, showed great discipline and repeatedly denied Calvin at the net. Rebecca Kamps' back-to-back kills in game 3 raised the roof but after three close and exciting games, Hope ran away and hid from Calvin in the last two. Only Calvin's rather comfortable 2-0 win on the soccer pitch earlier the same day could assuage bruised Knight feelings.

[OshDude]

Hope over Calvin last night in 3-2 at Calvin.  Attendance - 2775!!!

25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 25-12, 15-6

Sounds like a great match.  Hope really took control after loosing a tight 3rd set.

It was well worth attending. The atmosphere was electric, the fans were pumped, and VandeStreek made sure he had his entire basetball team in the very front row in what ultimately proved to be a vain attempt to intimidate the ladies from Hope. Alas, Hope's women were stout on the frontline, showed great discipline and repeatedly denied Calvin at the net. Rebecca Kamps' back-to-back kills in game 3 raised the roof but after three close and exciting games, Hope ran away and hid from Calvin in the last two. Only Calvin's rather comfortable 2-0 win on the soccer pitch earlier the same day could assuage bruised Knight feelings.

Here is a great photo gallery by Dave DeKorne. Awesome to see so many fans at a D-III VB match. I'll write it again: what a rivalry!

If you couldn't guess, the crowd set a D-III single-match record.
Quote from Calvin coach Amber Warners: "Tonight was a great way to celebrate the sport." Amen.

[WLCALUM83]

OAC action:

Capital vs. Ohio Northern on deck: (there's one other OAC battle between 2 in-conference giants today, too, may post on that one laterr as well).

[WLCALUM83]

OAC final just in:

Ohio Northern over Capital (25-14, 25-20, 25-19)

Per ONU stats:  ONU:  Schnelle 16 kills, Smerekanich 38 digs
                          Capital:  Doebel 18 digs

Lady Polar Bears improve to 7-2 in-conference, 25-3 overall with the win.

[WLCALUM83]

Per OAC 10/31 volleyball scoreboard

Heidelberg and Mt. Union are going to a 5th game--developing. . .

[WLCALUM83]

Heidelberg won over Mt. Union, 3 games to 2:

Heidelberg gets top seed in OAC tourney.

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg has seven (well, five) close sets against the top two teams in the nation, but wins just one of them, dropping decisions to #2 Oshkosh 25-21, 25-16, 26-24 and #1 Juniata 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 25-19.  Oshkosh upended Juniata in their head-to-head matchup 22-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13; must have been a thriller.  Both teams blanked host Trinity, who came back to nip Witt 3-2 (15-11) in the nightcap, leaving the Ohio Tigers 0-3 on the weekend.

The Tigers' next task is to defend their NCAC tournament title, where they will be (of course) the top seed.  Hiram wrapped up the second position with a five-set 15-10 victory at third-place Wooster this afternoon.  Allegheny grabbed the fourth seed and the unenviable task of facing Witt in the first round of the tourney, to be held Friday and Saturday at the HPER Center.

[WLCALUM83]

MIAA Conference Tournament Pairings are now up:

http://miaa.org/vb/

[WLCALUM83]

OAC Tournament finals just in:

Ohio Northern over John Carroll (25-17, 25-22, 25-11)

   Ohio Northern-- Schnelle 19 kills
   JCU -- Mastroine 12 digs

Heidelberg over Muskingum (25-9, 25-13, 25-15)

Heidelberg-- Atchison 11 kills

[WLCALUM83]

MIAA final in:

Albion over Trine  (25-18, 25-16, 25-18)
      Albion--  Watler 12 kills  4 players with 10 or more digs
      Trine--  Rothballer 10 kills