By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Elyria, Ohio---Devon Heitkamp (New Bremen/New Bremen, Ohio) had six kills and 12 blocks to lead the No. 2 Owens Community College women's volleyball team to 25-17, 25-13, 25-19 win over Lorain County Community College on the road tonight.
With the win, Owens captured the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship outright for the second consecutive season. It is also the program's fifth championship over the past seven years and the 15th in program history since winning it for the first time in 1998.
Owens is now 34-4 overall and 13-0 in OCCAC play. They have won 10 straight overall and will look to pick up their 28th straight regular season conference win against Edison Community College at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC). A win would also give Owens back-to-back undefeated conference seasons.
Tonight's Win
In the first set, Owens picked up 16 kills as a team while hitting .520. Midway through the set, with the score tied at 11 apiece, Christine Tylutki (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) and Ashley Pleiman (Fort Loramie/Fort Loramie, Ohio) produced back-to-back kills, and those were followed by a Lorain County attack error to give Owens a three point lead.
Following a Lorain County kill, Erika Angstmann (St. Mary's Memorial/St. Mary's, Ohio) picked up a right side kill, followed by an ace, to give Owens a 16-11 lead. In fact, her back-to-back points spurred a 6-0 run that gave Owens a 20-12 lead. Heitkamp then added a solo block, an assisted block and a kill, while Niki Polce (Huron/New Boston, Mich.) had an ace and Tylutki had a kill from the middle to end the set.
Heitkamp opened the second set with a kill and teamed with Tyanna Smith (Bowling Green/Bowling Green, Ohio) for an assisted block two points later to give Owens the first three points. Lorain County responded with the next seven points before Heitkamp smacked home an overpass kill to end the run.
Similar to the first set, Owens held an 11-10 lead a short time later. At that point, Pleiman, Angstmann and Heitkamp picked up kills over a four-point stretch to give Owens a 14-11 lead. Angstmann then added a pair of left side kills sandwiched around a Heitkamp-Tylutki block to give Owens a 17-11 lead.
Then, late in the set, Heitkamp smacked home a right side kill, followed by three straight kills from Pleiman, Angstmann and Smith starting two points later as Owens went up two sets.
The third set began with Owens scoring the first seven points, highlighted by an ace from Polce, a pair of blocks and a right side kill from Tylutki. Lorain County rallied and pulled within four, but Smith teamed with Heitkamp for a block to give Owens an 11-6 lead.
Later, a Pleiman kill gave Owens a 14-8 lead. Her kill was actually the second point of a 5-0 run that put Owens up 10. A few points later, Pleiman teamed with Annie Lindeman (Ottoville/Ottoville, Ohio) for a block, and then added an ace on the ensuing point.
Down the stretch, Smith picked up a kill to give Owens match point. Following two straight Lorain County points, Heitkamp smacked home her sixth kill down the middle.
Tylutki and Pleiman each had eight kills to lead Owens offensively, although Heitkamp and Angstmann each had six apiece. Tylutki hit .889 over nine attempts, and Pleiman hit .727 over 11 attempts. Carrigan Gray (Liberty-Benton/Findlay, Ohio) led the team with 17 assists. Polce and Angstmann each had two aces, while Brooke Gyori (Clay/Oregon, Ohio) had a team-high 15 digs.
Heitkamp's 12 kills consisted of three solo blocks and nine assisted blocks. Smith added a solo block and five assisted, and Tylutki had five assisted blocks.