Volleyball’s quest for an NCAC conference title came down to the wire in the championship game, where the Tigers were defeated by regionally-ranked Wittenberg 3-2.
The Tigers knew heading into the tournament they would have an uphill battle, as they had been defeated by two of the three teams they would play.
DePauw opened play on Friday against Kenyon (13-13), a team they had beaten during the regular season 3-1. Backed by senior outside hitter Lauren Falotico’s 11 kills and junior defensive specialist Rachael Lenderman’s 18 digs, the Tigers saw a similar result on Friday, shutting out the Ladies 3-0.
On Saturday, DePauw looked to get revenge on a Ohio-Wesleyan team that had previously edged out the Tigers 3-2 during the regular season.
Saturday’s game would also go to five games, but would end with the Tigers coming out victorious.
“I think this was the game in the tournament that showed the strength of our team,” said junior middle hitter Elisabeth Wilson.
Head coach Deb Zellers agreed.
“They were ranked fifth in our region, they were ranked ahead of us. That was, in our opinion, a must-win match for lots of reasons,” said Zellers. “We came out and we played really well.”
Senior defensive specialist Keely McGrath and Lenderman lead the team with 32 and 25 digs respectively, while sophomore middle hitter Haley Bitzer led the Tigers with 12 kills.
It would be in the championship game that DePauw would come up short, as they would go on to lose to Wittenberg in five games.
“They’re such a tough team to play,” said Zellers. “They have lots of weapons and can beat you in lots of different ways, and so they’re a tough team to prepare against because of that depth.”
Despite the tough opponent, both Zellers and McGrath thought the Tigers didn’t play to the best of their abilities in the final game.
“We played nervously. It’s those instances when we don’t play out best,” said McGrath. “We had way too many unforced errors, but I thought we fought hard.”
To advance to the NCAA Division III tournament, the Tigers would need to receive an at-large bid during the NCAA Selection Process yesterday morning.
Despite finishing the regular season 17-10 and playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, the Tigers were not given a bid in what proved to be a disappointing end to the team’s season.
With 40 teams already in the tournament, the bids are spread out among approximately 20 teams across the country.
“Those at-large bids are really hard to come by,” said Zellers. “This team and seniors that we’ve had have been really instrumental in the success of our program over the last four years. I think that they’ve had a pretty good journey. They’ll definitely be missed.”
The program will be graduating six seniors in McGrath, Falotico, senior setter Faith Rowlwes, outside hitter Sarah Burtenshaw, opposite hitter Molly Rinehart and defensive specialist Brekiesha Weszely.
