By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
POST MATCH VIDEO
Toledo, Ohio---Tyanna Smith (Bowling Green/Bowling Green, Ohio) and Christine Tylutki (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) combined for 22 kills and hit .429 to lead the No. 2 Owens Community College women's volleyball team to a 24-26, 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 win over St. Clair County Community College this afternoon.
The win, which was the fifth in a row for Owens, moves the team to 29-4 overall this year, while St. Clair County falls to 9-11 overall. The matchup was a non-conference tilt, and Owens improved to 2-0 this year against St. Clair County.
Today's win also mark the first Owens has achieved this year in come-from-behind fashion.
MATCH NOTES
Owens struggled to find a groove most of today's match. They produced 12 service errors and allowed 10 aces, but found a way to win after dropping the first set.
In the opener, St. Clair County led or saw the match tied on 43 of the 50 points. They led 13-9 before Owens reeled off five straight points to take their first lead of the match. The run was capped with a pair of kills from Smith and Erika Angstmann (St. Mary's Memorial/St. Mary's, Ohio).
The teams then exchanged points until an Ashley Pleiman (Fort Loramie/Fort Loramie, Ohio) kill, followed by a St. Clair County attack error, gave Owens a 17-15 lead, which was its largest of the set. St. Clair County answered with the next two points, and the two teams battled back-and-forth until the visitors took a 23-21 lead, which forced an Owens timeout.
Out of the timeout, Owens got a kill from Smith and a four hit violation from St. Clair County to tie the match. The teams traded the next two points as Angstmann picked up her third kill of the set, but St. Clair County got a kill down the right side, and Owens hit an attack into the net to take the first set.
Early in the second set, St. Clair County continued to stay in control. They scored the first three points and led 6-3. From there, though, Owens went on a 10-2 run that was capped by a Carrigan Gray (Liberty-Benton/Findlay, Ohio) ace. Moments later, the lead stretched to eight following a Devon Heitkamp (New Bremen/New Bremen, Ohio) kill and an Angstmann ace.
Following that, St. Clair County started to trim its deficit. The eight point hole became just three, at 19-16, and forced an Owens timeout. Moments later, one of St. Clair County's 10 aces pulled them within 22-21, which forced another timeout.
This time, though, St. Clair County put the ensuing serve into the net, and a Heitkamp-Tylutki block gave Owens set point. Following a St. Clair County kill from the middle, Tylutki picked up her fifth kill of the match on a pass from Gray to knot the match at a set apiece.
A streaky start to the third set saw St. Clair County score the first three points only to have Owens rattle off eight in a row in response. That run was capped by a Tylutki-Smith block that forced a St. Clair County timeout.
A little later, a pair of Tylutki kills from the right side doubled up St. Clair County and gave Owens a 14-7 lead. St. Clair County answered with four straight points, but that was as close as they would get because Owens responded with four straight of their own and pushed the lead to as many as seven late in the set before taking a one-set advantage.
Olivia Hermiller's (Ottawa-Glandorf/Ottawa, Ohio) strong start in the fourth set allowed Owens to take a 7-1 lead. The freshman had a pair of kills, while Tylutki had an ace and teamed up with Smith on a block during the run.
Following that, though, Owens got sloppy. Back-to-back attack errors, followed by three straight St. Clair County aces and an Owens attack into the net tie the match up at seven. St. Clair County even took the lead on the next point, but Owens answered right back and took a 10-8 lead following a Pleiman-Smith block.
Pleiman picked up two more kills, followed by Tylutki's 10th kill of the match to stretch the lead to three moments later. Heitkamp and Tylutki then added two more kills, followed by a St. Clair County attack error and another Hermiller kill to push the lead to 18-11.
From there, the Owens lead never dropped below five as the moved within one win of another 30 win season.
STAT SUMMARY
Despite the defensive struggles, Owens had 61 digs as a team. Brooke Gyori (Clay/Oregon, Ohio) led the way with 22, while Niki Polce (Huron/New Boston, Mich.) had nine. Gray and Tylutki added seven apiece and Angstmann chipped in seven.
Offensively, Owens got kills from eight different players, including one from Gyori. Smith and Tylutki split for the team-high with 11 apiece, while Pleiman had nine. Angstmann and Heitkamp each added six. As a team, Owens hit .306, led by a .476 clip from Tylutki, along with Heitkamp (.400) and Smith (.381).
Setting up the hitters were Gray (26) and Tylutki (22), who had 48 of the team's 51 assists. Gyori had a team-high four aces, and Tylutki added three.
At the net, Hermiller picked up the lone solo block for Owens, while Smith (6) and Tylutki (4) also contributed in assisted blocks.
NEXT UP
Owens resumes conference play on Wednesday as the team begins a five-game road trip. Four of those matches are conference tilts, and the team will return home for its final regular season match on Oct. 28 against Edison.
HALL OF FAME
Prior to the match, the Owens Community College athletic department inducted five individuals and the 1991-92 men's basketball national championship team into its newly created athletic hall of fame. On of the five individuals was Stephanie Champine (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.), who became a two-time All-American at Owens in 2006-07 before moving on to become a two-time All-American at NCAA Division I Austin Peay State University. She is now in the hall of fame at both institutions, and she is the only female student-athlete in Owens history to have her jersey retired.
The other four individuals were former athletic director Michael Rickard, former athletic director and head men's basketball coach Leroy "Cot" Marquette, former men's basketball player Jim Penix and former men's basketball player Jeff Massey, who led Owens to a pair of national titles.
For more information on the Owens athletics hall of fame, visit here. You can find out information on what it takes to be in the hall of fame, and you can nominate someone from that link, too.