#21 Tartans Top Oberlin, Drop 5-Set Match with #7 Wittenberg

(OBERLIN, Ohio) - The 21st-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's volleyball team traveled to Oberlin, Ohio, to face seventh-ranked Wittenberg University and Oberlin College on Saturday, October 29. In the battle of nationally ranked teams, the Tigers earned a five-set victory while the Tartans topped Oberlin, 3-0.

The Tartans, now 23-6 on the year, started the Wittenberg match with a 25-20 set-one win. The Tigers responded with wins of 25-16 and 25-18 before the Tartans forced the fifth set with a 25-19 win in set four. Wittenberg was able to regain composure and won the fifth set, 15-8, to avenage an earlier season loss to the Tartans.

Four players finished with double-digit kills for the Tartans with sophomore Sarah Jurgens (Eagan, Minn./Eagan) leading the way with 11. Junior Eliza Donohue (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield), senior Jackie Gibbons (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township), and sophomore Lauren Mueller (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy) each tallied 10 kills. Senior Emily Newton (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) dished out 40 assists while senior Molly Higgins (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) led the defense with 25 digs. Donohue picked up three block assists at the net.

Against the host Yeowomen, the Tartans won, 25-20, 25-11, and 25-13. Gibbons led with 10 kills in two sets played. Newton collected 18 assists in two sets while sophomore Amanda Thiele (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins) played all three sets and tallied 16 assists and seven digs. Higgins again led the back line with 14 digs.

The Tartans will next play in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship tournament starting on Friday, November 4 at Washington University in St. Louis. The Tartans are the four seed and will begin the tournament at 2:00 p.m. against the University of Rochester.