By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College women's volleyball team stayed at No. 2 in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll following its release this afternoon.
It is the fourth straight week Owens has spent at No. 2, which includes all of October. Furthermore, the team has spent seven straight weeks in the top five after opening the season at No. 7. The No. 2 ranking is the highest in program history at the NJCAA Division II level, which Owens has competed at since 2001.
Today's poll release also marks the final of the regular season. For Owens, the team will take a nine-game winning streak into tomorrow's 6 p.m. road matchup against Lorain County Community College. With a win, Owens will clinch the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) regular season championship outright.
For Owens (33-4 overall, 12-0 in OCCAC play), a championship would also mark the 15th time the program has captured the regular season crown since 1998. In addition, it would mean back-to-back championships and give the program five of the past seven titles. The team has already secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Region XII District I tournament that will be held at Owens on Nov. 4-5.
On Sept. 14, Owens defeated Lorain County 25-14, 25-16, 25-14 to run its all-time series record to 24-0. Digging deeper, Owens is 71-1 all-time in 72 sets played against Lorain County. The lone set loss came on Oct. 23, 2013.
For live updates of tomorrow's match, visit our Twitter page (@owensexpress). We'll also post pictures and post match video on our Facebook page, and we'll post a recap at OwensExpress.com.
To see the full NJCAA Division II poll, visit here
Following tomorrow's match, Owens will close its regular season home schedule against Edison Community College at 7 p.m. on Friday. During the match, the team will raise money for Children's Medica Missions West (CMM). For more information on that, visit here
Notes
Owens is 8-1 against teams ranked in the final NJCAA Division II poll with the lone loss coming to No. 1 Parkland College. The team has defeated No. 5 Catawba Valley, No. 8 Kirkwood, No. 10 Sauk Valley, No. 11 McHenry County, No. 14 Schoolcraft, No. 15 Grand Rapids, No. 16 Des Moines Area and No. 19 Muskegon. Five of those wins have come in straight sets, while two others have came in four sets. The lone five set win among the eight was against Catawba Valley on their home court. In fact, only three of the eight wins have come at home, while the loss to Parkland came on the road.