No. 5 Owens Volleyball Splits Against KVCC, No. 18 St. Clair County

Deanna Smith (left) sets the ball, while Erika Hartings attempts a kill on the right. Photos by Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Deanna Smith (left) sets the ball, while Erika Hartings attempts a kill on the right. Photos by Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, Ohio---The No. 5 Owens Community College women's volleyball team swept Kalamazoo Valley Community College to push its winning streak to 18, but No. 18 St. Clair County Community College ended it with a five set win over Owens as part of today's doubleheader in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC).

Match 1: No. 5 Owens d. Kalamazoo Valley 25-10, 25-18, 26-24

After two solid first sets, Owens hung on in the third set to pick up a sweep in today's opener. Christine Tylutki (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) and Deanna Smith (Riverview/Riverview, Mich.) led the team with 18 and 17 assists, respectively.

On the other end of 10 of those assists was Macy Reigelsperger (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio), who led the team in kills. Abigail Hesselschwardt (Otsego/Grand Rapids, Ohio) finished two away from a season-high by adding seven kills, and Taylor Purcell (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.) had six.

Five players had one service ace apiece for Owens, while Brooke Gyori (Clay/Oregon, Ohio) had a team-high 11 digs. Samantha Reer (St. Paul/Norwalk, Ohio) added six to assist Gyori.

Reigelsperger and Hesselschwardt each had three blocks to lead the team.

As a team, Owens hit .324 with 37 kills in 71 attempts, while Kalamazoo Valley hit .071 with 19 kills over 85 attempts. Michaela DeKilder led the visitors with 11 kills, and Alexis Blake had 13 digs.

Match 2: No. 18 St. Clair County d. No. 5 Owens 25-21, 25-27, 20-25, 26-24, 17-15

For the first time since Sept. 19 vs Johnson County, Owens tasted defeat as St. Clair County pulled out a back-and-forth battle in five sets.

Owens got a career-high in kills from Reigelsperger (27) and a season-high from Erika Hartings (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio) (20). The team struggled to get a flow going offensively, though, as Reigelsperger hit a team-hiigh .283 and the team finished at .134 in hitting percentage.

Aside from the Coldwater High School duo, Owens got five kills apiece from Purcell, Ally Mikesell (St. Henry/St. Henry, Ohio) and Tyanna Smith (Bowling Green/Bowling Green, Ohio). 

Leading the way in assists was Deanna Smith with a career-high total of 35, while Tylutki added 26. The duo combined for 61 of the team's 66 assists as Gyori finished third on the team with three.

As a team, Owens produced 101 digs, led by Gyori with 33. Tylutki (21), Mikesell (20) and Reer (10) also finished in double figures. Deanna Smith added nine.

Reigelsperger had a team-high seven blocks (two solo). Hartings and Tyanna Smith chipped in three apiece.

Kendall Stoll (19) and Briann Alspaugh (11) led St. Clair County in kills. Miranda Shafer added 48 assists and Hannah Gordon had 29 digs.

Wrap Up

Owens is now 32-6 overall this year. They will be back in action next Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Clark State Community College in a non-conference matchup. They will then hit the road to face Cincinnati State Technical and Community College next Friday at 6 p.m. in their regular season and Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) finale.

Notes

The 101 team digs vs St. Clair County was the third highest total Owens has produced this year in a match. In the same match, Owens set a new season-high with 209 attempts offensively.

The previous season-high for Hartings in kills was 17, which she also achieved against St. Clair County in an earlier matchup this season. For Reigelsperger, her previous career-high was 24, which she set against Monroe College on Oct. 10 of this season.

Reer reached double digit digs for the fourth time this season in the match against St. Clair County. Her season-high is 12.

With her 44 digs combined today, Gyori eclipsed 700 for the season. She now has 716.