By: Jake Haubner
As Wittenberg geared up for the NCAC tournament last weekend, Wittenberg closed out the regular season with Senior Night versus Northwestern Ohio. There is only one senior on the team, Andrea Behling. Behling has had a great career for the Wittenberg volleyball team, so there was a lot to celebrate. She will finish her decorated career with honors like being a four-year letter winner, 2013 NCAC Player of the Year, 2012 NCAC Tournament MVP and being elected to multiple NCAC and AVCA teams. Behling has had a great senior season, averaging 2.95 kills per set on a .291 hitting percentage. Behling and her fellow Tigers took down Northwestern for their 20th victory on the season. After dominating the first sets 25-16, the Tigers were barely beat in the second set 23-25. The Tigers took the next two sets to close up the match. Andrea Behling played well on senior night with 11 kills and 3 assists. Junior Megan Vodopich also shined on Senior Night, recording a very rare first triple double in volleyball with 39 assists, 16 digs and 10 kills.
After the match, when Behling asked about being the lone senior, she said that, “it doesn’t even feel like I’m the lone senior because there is so much leadership in the sophomore and junior classes.” This leadership will be important as the Tigers continue on to the post-season.
After Northwestern Ohio, the Tigers took on the NCAC tournament, where they were a perfect 8-0 in the regular season. The perfect NCAC record allowed the Tigers to host the NCAC tournament at Pam Smith Arena. The Tigers opened up the tournament by dominating Allegheny, whose offense was completely shut down by the Tigers. The Gators finished the match with just a .033 attack percentage. The Gators were outmatched defensively allowing Tigers to have a .479 attack percentage. The Tigers won in 3 games, only allowing the Gators to get to double figures in one set. The Tigers were very balanced in the match. Freshman Camila Quinones was the only player with double digit kills with 11. The Tigers moved on to face DePauw on Saturday.
The Tigers once again dominated in the NCAC tournament by picking up another 3-0 victory over DePauw. This game was more of a challenger for the Tigers though. The third set was a battle back and forth between Witt and DePauw as DePauw attempted to not getting ousted from the tournament. The Tigers finally one the set 33-31 after Andrea Behling spike ended the match. This was Behling’s 13 kill on the match, which led the Tigers. Kara Seidenstricker also contributed nicely with 12 kills. Kiah Murry was for the Tigers great defensively; recording 19 digs The Tigers moved on to the championship to face Hiram.
Wittenberg dominated Hiram in the final, winning in straight sets 25-20, 25-11 and 25-21. It was the team’s seventh consecutive conference tournament championship, with Vodopich receiving tournament MVP honors.
The Tigers now await the NCAA tournament draw, with Wittenberg potentially having to defeat number one and two overall Calvin and Hope, respectively, to make it to the Final Four.
