Huntingdon, Pa. – Given little chance to win ... on the road ... at the second-ranked nationally Juniata Eagles ... Wittenberg pulled off the huge upset and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship. The five-set victory sent the Tigers to their next-round assignment against Messiah, which ousted Randolph-Macon in four sets. The match begins tomorrow (April 18) at 6:30p ET.

Wittenberg was ready to go out of the gate with a 25-20 win in set one. Juniata tied the match with a dominant 25-17 win in set two and looked to have dodged a major bullet in set three. Down 24-22, the Eagles scored four-straight points to win a set that could have demoralized the visitors. Showing tremendous grit, Witt took five of the last eight points of set four with the match tied at 20. The winner came on Harrison Mitchell's kill. An Juniata attack error in set five put Wittenberg up 12-8, but another four-point run by the Tigers got them right back in it. Eli Halverson came up clutch with a kill to make it 13-12. Two attack errors by the Eagles sent the Witt bench into a frenzy.

Four players had double-digit kills in the match. Reese Monnin, who was rather quiet yesterday, was anything but today. His 14 kills and .391 hitting percentage were both team-bests. Michael Yurk and Mitchell backed up nine-kills efforts from yesterday with 13 each. Yurk was outstanding with a .333 hitting percentage and 11 digs. Mitchell also hit at a .333 clip. Zach Newton contributed 11 kills and a team-high four blocks. Carson Hill (28) and Gavin Hagerty (22) combined for 50 assists.

Wittenberg's win avenged Baldwin Wallace's loss to Juniata in the 2023 NCAAs. MCVL NCAA matches are not for the faint of heart. Today's win was the fourth five-set match in the last seven in the Division III tournament.

Link to Wittenberg's match summary on WittenbergTigers.com

MCVL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

2026 > Wittenberg 3, Wentworth 1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20) First Round

             Wittenberg 3, Juniata 2 (25-20, 17-25, 24-26, 25-23, 15-13) Second Round

2025 > Springfield 3, Mount Union 2 (25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-12) First Round

2024 > Loras 3, Trine 2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 14-16) First Round

2023 > Juniata 3, Baldwin Wallace 0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-18) First Round

2022 > Carthage 3, Mount Union 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-20) First Round

2021 > Messiah 3, Fontbonne 2 * (24-26, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11) First Round

2020 > No NCAA championship (COVID-19)

2019 > UC Santa Cruz 3, Fontbonne 2 * (26-24, 25-21, 24-26, 20-25, 15-6) First Round

2018 > Dominican, IL 3, Carthage 1 * (14-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23) First Round (Quarterfinals)

2017 > Stevens 3, Dominican, IL 1 * (25-21, 25-17, 26-28, 25-23) First Round (Quarterfinals)

2016 > Stevenson 3, Carthage 1 * (25-21, 29-27, 25-27, 25-18) First Round (Quarterfinals)

2015 > No qualifier

* No longer member of league