March 29, 2024

Wittenberg Women’s Volleyball team hosted and defeated Transylvania University on Wednesday evening in Pam Evans-Smith Arena. They won by the scores of 25-12, 25-20 and 25- 19. The Tigers took a victory in great fashion despite not having their normal starting lineup playing.

The Tigers could not play their normal lineup due to injuries of several players.

“It’s a solid win because of the new lineup due to injuries; [we exhibited a] good ability to overcome the short time of getting used to the new lineup,” Taylor Yontz, ‘20, said. “We handled business and were able to control the things we can control.”

Kennedy Schmidt, ‘19, lead the Tigers offensive assault by having 11 kills on 26 attack attempts, hitting .308 for the night.

There were a couple of times that Transylvania tried to take control of the game in all three sets. Wittenberg was able to maintain a healthy lead, but when the game got close or tied, Wittenberg was able to push through and score points when they needed to.

Wittenberg was the first team to score in the contest, the Tigers took control early in the game by starting out with a 10-5 lead then they kicked it into high gear at an instant Wittenberg was up 17-7 through excellent serves from Madison Manger, ‘19. Aubrey Cox, ‘20, served two aces in the first set. Tigers took a 22-9 lead before winning that set. The front line was able to score by blocking the Pioneers offensive attack.

In the second set, Transylvania got their foot on the ground and started to challenge Witt. The Pioneers were the first team to score; they obtained the lead for a short moment and lead 10-9 before Wittenberg came back and tied up the game. Scoring was going back and forth before the Tigers took a 16-13 lead, but Transylvania was not going to give up just yet. Before Wittenberg won the second set, the Pioneers attempted to make a last minute comeback but they fell short of their goal.

Transylvania continued to fight hard in the third set. The Tigers were the first team to score and they got up to a 3-0 lead before the Pioneers first scored and were able to catch up and trail by two points. At one moment in the game, the score was 9-7 before Transylvania tied up the game. The momentum of the game continued to shift back and forth until Wittenberg was able to score and win the game.

“Our team is continuing to grow in confidence and learning to love every moment of every set and I really think it’s starting to show. Battling through hard times only makes us stronger,” Cox said. She agreed, along with Yontz, about the team resiliency and coming together.

Tigers will begin conference play against Oberlin College on Saturday. They have a three game road series before returning back home against Hiram on October 5.
 

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