WITTENBERG'S NCAA TOURNEY RUN CUT SHORT

NCAC regular season and tournament champion Wittenberg (33-3) opened NCAA regional play with a 3-0 victory over Muskingum, 25-14, 25-15, 25-18. The Tigers, who entered the national tournament ranked fifth in the nation and seeded second in the region, saw their post-season come to a close with a heartbreaking 3-2 second round loss to Ohio Northern, 25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 19-25, 13-15. Against the Polar Bears, Wittenberg was paced offensively by senior right-side hitter Jackie Williams (Rocky River, OH/Magnificat) with 20 kills, while senior libero Laura Fender (Toledo, OH/St. Ursula) topped the team with 23 digs. Fender broke the school record for career digs, finishing with 2,697 to top Emilie Schmid's four-year-old mark.

The NCAC has had at least one team in the NCAA Tournament field in 19 of the its 25 seasons. Follow the NCAA Division III Tournament at www.ncaa.com.