Tiffin, Ohio – November 4, 2010 – Seiberling Gymnasium, on the campus of Heidelberg University, will serve as the host site of the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament Nov. 5-6. It is the second straight year that the tournament champion will be crowned on the Heidelberg campus.
Semifinal action begins at 5:00 p.m. Friday with no. 2 seed Otterbein University taking on third-seeded Ohio Northern University. The night cap will feature host, and top-seeded, Heidelberg against fourth-seed University of Mount Union beginning at approximately 7:00 p.m. The winners will meet in the championship match slated for Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Admission for the semifinal round is $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and $2 for non-OAC students. For championship Saturday, adults are $7, senior citizens $5, while non-OAC students are $2. OAC students are admitted free to all matches with their student identification card and only OAC lifetime passes will be honored.
For the latest information on the OAC Tournament visit the tournament website. Results and box scores will be posted. Links for live statistics and a webcast are found on the website as well.
The tournament officially began on Tuesday with the quarterfinal round played at campus sites of the higher seed. Heidelberg topped no. 8 Muskingum University in three (25-9, 25-14, 25-13) as did Otterbein over no. 7 Capital University (25-11, 25-16, 25-12) and Mount Union over Baldwin-Wallace College (25-15, 25-18, 25-10). Rounding out the quarterfinal round was Ohio Northern with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 25-21) win over no. 6 John Carroll University.
Entering the OAC semifinals Heidelberg, and head coach Jason Miller, is ranked 13th in the nation according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Berg has reached its fourth consecutive semifinal match, after not overcoming the quarters in its previous 16 appearances in the OAC Tournament. The tournament championship trophy has yet to find a home on the Berg campus, but the Berg has claimed three regular season crowns (1986, 2009 and 2010). Heidelberg stands at 30-5 overall, which marks the second most wins in a single season. It is just the second time that the Berg has reached the 30-win plateau, joining its record setting 31-victory season a year ago. The Berg enters the weekend winners of 13 of its last 15 outings. For the year, all five of its setbacks have come to opponents that have spent time in the national rankings.
Otterbein has posted a victory in 15 of its last 16 outings, including five consecutive, to boast an overall record of 26-5. The 26 wins set a new single season record for the second year in a row. It is the second straight season that the Cardinals have eclipsed the 20-win plateau after combining for just 13 wins in 2007 and 2008. Since the 1984 season, the Cardinals have racked up over 20 wins on five occasions. Otterbein is under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Monica McDonald and is in the midst of its 14th appearance in the OAC Tournament, and its second consecutive trip to the semifinals. The Cardinals are in search of its first OAC hardware in the history of the program. Otterbein has never claimed the OAC Regular Season Title or made an appearance in the OAC Tournament championship match.
The veteran of the OAC Tournament is Ohio Northern. The Polar Bears are making their 27th trip to OAC postseason play and 20 appearances have come under the guidance of 20th-year head coach Kate Witte. As a program, ONU has won a league-best 18 tournament titles, including four consecutive and seven of the last nine. Witte has guided the Polar Bears to 12 of those tournament trophies. Ohio Northern enters the tournament with an overall record of 18-11 and has won five of its last six outings, including two consecutive. As a program, the Polar Bears have brought home 21 OAC Regular Season titles.
Rounding out the field is Mount Union, who is under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Leigh Ann Matesich. The Purple Raiders are making their eighth consecutive trip to the OAC semifinals. Overall Mount Union has made 21 appearances in the OAC postseason, including 13 straight. Mount Union is vying for its first tournament title, after finishing runner-up in 1999. Following its quarterfinal win over Baldwin-Wallace, Mount Union boasts an overall record of 21-10. Mount Union has also never won the OAC Regular Season crown.