Winning Streak At 11 As Owens Sweeps Rock Valley Invitational

Erika Hartings eclipsed 400 kills on the season with her 46 over the weekend. Photo by Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Erika Hartings eclipsed 400 kills on the season with her 46 over the weekend. Photo by Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Rockford, Ill.---The No. 16 Owens Community College women's volleyball team breezed to four wins in the Rock Valley Invitational this weekend to push their winning streak to 11.

Match 1: Owens d. John A. Logan 22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-18

Macy Reigelsperger (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio) and Erika Hartings (Coldwater, Ohio) each had a team-high 15 kills, and Ally Mikesell (St. Henry/St. Henry, Ohio) added 10 in the only match in which Owens didn't win in straight sets this weekend. Reigelsperger hit .407 and Mikesell hit .392.

Jessica Cooper (Brandywine/Niles, Mich.) had a team-high 24 assists, and Deanna Smith (Riverview/Riverview, Mich.) had 22. Amara Hemenway (Bellevue/Bellevue, Ohio) had a team-high two aces.

The team combined for 62 digs, led by Ciarra Wirick (Benjamin Logan/West Liberty, Ohio) with 22, Aricka LaVoy (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) with 11 and Mikesell with 10. Cooper added seven, and two others had three apiece.

Mikesell had a team-high four blocks (one solo), while Reigelsperger had three (one solo).

Match 2: Owens d. Rock Valley College 25-17, 25-19, 25-16

Owens breezed past one of the top NJCAA Division III teams in the nation and tournament host, Rock Valley, to close out their action on Friday.

Hartings led the way with 13 kills on a .571 hitting percentage, while Hemenway (9), Reigelsperger (6) and Stephanie Kipp (Ida/Monroe, Mich.) with five also chipped in. As a team, Owens hit .351, led by Kipp at .625 and Hemenway at .600.

Cooper (23) and Smith (13) led the team in assists, while three players had a team-high one ace. Wirick had a team-high 15 digs as the only player in double figures in that category, although LaVoy added nine.

Reigelsperger and Mikesell each had a team-high four blocks, while the team had 15 total.

Match 3: Owens d. McHenry County College 25-23, 25-20, 25-23

It took two really close sets, but Owens prevailed in its Saturday opener against McHenry County in straight sets to earn its 10th win in a row.

Hartings, once again, led the team in kills with 11, while Reigelsperger (7), Kipp (6) and Hemenway (6) all helped out. Smith (19) led the team in assists this time, with Cooper added 13. While the team didn't produce any service aces, Wirick had a team-high 18 digs. Cooper and Smith each added seven, and LaVoy and Mikesell each had six.

Mikesell had a team-high three blocks, and three others had two apiece.

Match 4: Owens d. Harper College 25-18, 25-17, 25-16

Owens closed out the Rock Valley Invitational with a straight set win over Harper College to pick up its 11th win in a row.

While nobody had double digit kills, Reigelsperger (9), Mikesell (8), Hartings (7) and Hemenway (6) all contributed. Smith, once again, led the way in assists with 19, and Cooper added 15. Cooper also had a team-high two aces.

Wirick (18) and Smith (10) led the way in digs. Reigelsperger had a team-high four blocks (two solo), while Purcell and Mikesell each had three.

Looking Ahead

Owens is now 29-8 overall with their 11 straight wins. They will look to capture at least a share of a conference championship to close out the regular season. Three conference games remain as they take a 10-1 record into their road tilt on Wednesday at Lorain County at 6 p.m. They will then travel to Cincinnati State on Friday at 6 p.m. before returning home to close out the regular season against No. 10 Columbus State (22-0, 10-0 OCCAC) on Saturday. Owens is currently one game back in the loss column (29-8, 10-1 OCCAC) behind Columbus State for the top spot in the conference.

Notes

Owens is now 2-0 vs McHenry County and Rock Valley this year. They swept McHenry County on Aug. 31 in the Owens Invitational and defeated Rock Valley in four sets on Sept. 19. It was the first time they played Harper College or John A. Logan this year.

Reigelsperger, who recently eclipsed 400 kills on the season, is now at a team-high 440. Not far behind is Hartings, who had 46 kills this weekend and now totals 421 this year. Those two freshmen are joined by three other freshmen as the top five kill producers on the team as Mikesell has 228, Hemenway has 181 and Taylor Purcell (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.) has 141.

Cooper now has a team-high 52 aces and 736 assists this year. With her play this weekend, she eclipsed 1,400 career assists, as well, and sits at 1,401. Another sophomore, Wirick, is nearing 1,000 career digs. She has a team-high 577 this year and sits at 914 in her two year career.

Reigelsperger has a team-high 130 blocks, and Mikesell is two away from joining the 100 block club.