Despite leading fifth ranked Wittenberg University in most statistic categories, the Tigers came up empty handed after traveling to Springfield, Ohio on Tuesday night.
After losing the first two sets (19-25, 23-25) the Tigers tried to rally and took the third set 25-21, but Wittenberg put them away in the fourth 25-11.
The Tigers have now dropped to 16-5 overall and suffered their first conference loss in their fifth North Coast Athletic Conference game.
Wittenberg had ended DePauw’s 18-game win streak in both the 2012 and 2013 season.
“We just didn't play our game,” junior Keely McGrath said. “But that happens and we are ready to move on and are excited for this upcoming weekend.”
“It came down to our serve and serve receive,” sophomore Elisabeth Wilson said. “If you look at the stats, that was the only statistic they actually beat us on; we had more blocks, more kills and more digs. It was just one part of our game that wasn't as strong as it usually is.”
Leading DePauw in kills for the night was senior Mary Kate Etling, who had 12 and Wilson who added 11 more with a .556 attack percentage. Wilson also had four blocks.
Junior setter Faith Rowles assisted 46 of the Tigers' 49 total kills, and McGrath had 24 digs.
“[Wittenberg] is a good team,” Wilson said. “They’re ranked fifth nationally. The good thing is we have the conference tournament in a couple of weeks so we’ll get to see them again.”
With the Tiger’s being in the middle of such a successful season, the loss was hard, but the team wants to learn and move on.
“Losing isn't easy,” McGrath said. “But it teaches us what we need to work on, and that will be our focus throughout this week's practices.”
When it came to their weekend tournament at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, McGrath said, “We are so excited for this upcoming weekend and I think we are hungry for a win.”
The Tiger’s will play two non-conference games against Wheaton College and Calvin. “We need to take things one game at a time,” Mcgrath said.
Wilson and the rest of the team are also looking forward to games coming up.
“We play a really tough Denison team in the next couple of weeks,” Wilson said. “That'll be a good way to get back into conference and get us prepared for the conference tournament.”
Senior Etling talked about the goals of the team earlier in the season, and they haven’t changed. “One of our goal's is to win the conference tournament,” Etling said. “Winning the conference tournament gives us an automatic bid to the National Tournament."
The road to the conference tournament continues after a stretch of non-conference games starting this weekend at Calvin College.
The Tiger’s next conference game will come on Oct. 18, when they travel to Denison University.