By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College women's volleyball team opened up play in the Owens Invitational today with a pair of wins over Monroe College and No. 14 South Suburban College.
With the wins, Owens improves to 5-1 overall, and they have now won four straight matches.
Match 1: Owens d. Monroe College 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 15-5
Erika Hartings (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio) and Macy Reigelsperger (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio) combined for 37 kills in today's first match, which required the Express to pull together after losing a two-set lead.
Hartings finished with 19 kills, along with two digs, two assisted blocks and one solo block, while Reigelsperger had 18 kills, one assist, four aces, seven digs and four assisted blocks. Ally Mikesell (St. Henry/St. Henry, Ohio) also had double digit kills with 10, while adding three assisted blocks.
Deanna Smith (Riverview/Riverview, Mich.) and Jessica Cooper (Brandywine/Niles, Mich.) had 20 and 19 assists, respectively, to lead the team. Aricka LaVoy (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) led the team with 10 digs, while Ciarra Wirick (Benjamin Logan/West Liberty, Ohio) and Cooper each had eight.
Reigelsperger's four aces was a team high. As a team, the Express produced 15 assisted blocks and two solo blocks. Reigelsperger's four assisted blocks was a team-high, while Mikesell (3), Taylor Purcell (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.), Kayla Siefker (Kalida/Ottawa, Ohio), Hartings and Sara Turner-Smith (Cardinal Stritch/Toledo, Ohio) each added two.
Monroe College (4-1) entered the match undefeated.
Match 2: Owens d. No. 14 South Suburban 25-18, 25-14, 25-20
In the nightcap, the Express took down the 14th ranked team in the nation in straight sets behind 18 assists from Smith, 10 kills from Reigelsperger and double figure digs from LaVoy (11) and Wirick (10).
Aside from Reigelsperger, who produced her sixth straight double figure kill total to open her collegiate career, the Express had a balanced effort in that category. Purcell had seven, with Mikesell and Hartings each with six and Amara Hemenway (Bellevue/Bellevue, Ohio) with five.
Aside from Smith's 18 assists, Cooper added 14. Hemenway produced a team-high five aces, while the rest of the team added five more. Aside from LaVoy and Wirick's dig totals, Smith added seven.
In the second match, the Express had one solo block (Reigelsperger) and 10 assisted blocks - led by five from Reigelsperger.
Next Up
The Express (5-1) take on Catawba Valley Community College at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. In the nightcap, they will take on Wallace State Community College - Hanceville at 6:45 p.m.
The team will then play two more matches on Sunday to close out the Owens Invitational, which features 29 of the best teams from around the nation at Owens Community College.
Stat Leaders
Reigelsperger (79) and Hartings (57) lead the team in kills...Smith (133) and Cooper (104) lead the team in assists...LaVoy (10) leads the team in aces...Wirick (77), LaVoy (68), Reigelsperger (56) and Cooper (46) lead the team in digs...Reigelsperger (16) leads the team in assisted blocks...Hartings (3) leads the team in solo blocks...Reigelsperger (18) and Hartings (12) are tops in total blocks.