By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Brooke Gyori (Clay/Oregon, Ohio), a sophomore defensive specialist for the Owens Community College women's volleyball team, has been named a Second Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
In doing so, Gyori becomes the first Owens volleyball player in the history of the program to be named an AVCA All-American.
"Brooke is very deserving of this Second Team AVCA All-American award," said Owens Community College head women's volleyball coach Sonny Lewis. "This award covers all three divisions of the two-year colleges, and it's great to see a libero get this award. Brooke has always worked hard to be the best she can be."
The award comes on the heels of Gyori completing one of the best careers in Owens volleyball history. As a sophomore, she was named a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II First Team All-American, as well as First Team All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC), OCCAC Player of the Year, First Team All-Region XII District F, Region XII District F Player of the Year, Region XII District F All-Tournament team and NJCAA Division II All-National Tournament team. She helped lead the team to a third place finish at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, which was the best in the program's history at the D-II level.
Following the season, Gyori signed with NCAA Division I University of Tennessee at Martin, where she will play indoor and beach volleyball. During her two-year career at Owens, Gyori recorded 1,678 digs, 148 aces, 161 assists and 34 kills. She leaves with the fourth most career digs in program history, and she produced double-digit digs in 82 of 93 career matches, including when she had a career-high 39 in a five-set win over Sinclair Community College on Sept. 30, 2015. She averaged 25 digs over eight NJCAA Division II National Tournament matches, where she led Owens to pair of top 10 finishes. Furthermore, she had six matches with at least 30 digs and 37 matches with 20 or more digs in her career.
Gyori was a four-time OCCAC player of the week after capturing the award on Sept. 20 and Oct. 25 of her freshman year and Sept. 25 and Oct. 9 of her sophomore year. She was a two-time First Team All-OCCAC recipient, and she became the conference's first defensive player to be named the OCCAC Player of the Year since 2009 as a sophomore. Additionally, she was a two-time First Team All-Region XII District F player, and she was the Region XII District F player of the year as a sophomore.
For a full list of this year's AVCA two-year college All-Americans, visit here
Notes
The Owens women's volleyball program recently finished the best season in program history at the NJCAA Division II level in 2016.
The Express finished 41-5 overall, went 14-0 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play, won the Region XII District F tournament championship and advanced to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, where they advanced to the national semifinals before finishing third in the nation with a five set win over No. 4 Catawba Valley. The finish represented the highest in program history at the NJCAA Division II level, which the team has competed at since 2001.
In fact, the program has now captured two consecutive conference championships with back-to-back 14-0 records, and two straight Region XII District F tournament championships. After finishing ninth in the nation at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in 2015, the program has also recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes nationally.
In 2016, the team ascended to No. 2 in the NJCAA Division II national poll, where they spent the final four weeks of the regular season before the poll concluded for the year. Overall, the team spent seven straight weeks ranked in the top five after opening the year at No. 7. The No. 2 ranking was the highest in program history at the NJCAA Division II level.
Recently, three sophomores signed with four-year schools. Gyori will play at NCAA Division I University of Tennessee at Martin, Tyanna Smith (Bowling Green/Bowling Green, Ohio) will play at NAIA Shawnee State University and Annie Lindeman (Ottoville/Ottoville, Ohio) will also play at NAIA Shawnee State University. Pleiman and Christine Tylutki (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) are still deciding where to go.
Following the season, the team has signed a stellar recruiting class thus far that includes: Cassidy Wlodarz, a 5-2 defensive specialist from Cardinal Stritch (OH) High School, Michaela Eisenhauer, a 6-1 outside hitter from Margaretta (OH) High School, Ally Angstmann, a 5-10 outside hitter from St. Marys Memorial (OH) High School, Summer Sweeting, a 5-6 setter from South Central (OH) High School, Brooke Gerdeman, a 6-2 middle blocker from Leipsic (OH) High School, and Jordan Alt, a 5-10 middle blocker from Ottawa-Glandorf (OH) High School.
The team will also return Niki Polce, a 5-4 defensive specialist from New Boston Huron (MI) High School, Leah Ballenger, a 5-7 outside hitter from Fremont Ross (OH) High School, Madison Lammers, a 5-9 outside hitter from New Knoxville (OH) High School, Devon Heitkamp, a 6-1 middle blocker from New Bremen (OH) High School, Erika Angstmann, a 6-1 outside hitter from St. Marys Memorial (OH) High School and Olivia Hermiller, a 5-11 right side hitter from Ottawa-Glandorf (OH) High School. Angstmann earned First Team All-OCCAC recognition as a freshman, while Polce was named Honorable Mention All-OCCAC.
For more info on the Owens volleyball program, visit here