The women's volleyball team finished its regular season Saturday with two losses against Heidelberg University and University of Mount Union.
These matches ended a six-game win streak and brought the Tigers' record to 23-5 in the regular season.
"So far this season, we've played four ranked teams, and these two made six," head coach Deb Zellers said. "So out of all the competition we've played, it ranks at the top."
Heidelberg (18-12) defeated DePauw 25-19, 25-18 and 28-26, and the scores against Mount Union (23-4) were 25-22, 25-22 and 25-18.
The close scores against Mount Union were no small feat, as the opponent is ranked No. 10 in the country.
"We were ranked eighth in regional rankings, Hiddleburg was ranked seventh, and Mount Union was ranked fourth, which just shows the strength of our region," Zellers said.
But finishing a season with two losses, a season that had 23 wins in 24 games, was disappointing.
"I thought we played really well, and it was really close," freshman setter Faith Rolwes said. "The matches could have gone either way, but it just didn't happen in our favor. I thought our defense played very well, we had a really fast offense and our hitters put the ball away. They were just really good teams."
The team hopes to continue last weekend's strengths and improve even more as the NCAC tournament starts Friday. The Tigers are the No. 2 seed in the conference and will face No. 7 Allegheny College (7-23, 2-6 NCAC).
"We are just kind of resetting, rebuilding confidence and remembering that we won 23 out of 24 straight matches this season, which is a great feat, plus trying to get a little swagger and that team chemistry back," Zellers said.
Added Rolwes: "We just need to stick with DePauw volleyball and keep practicing."