By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College athletic department placed 11 student-athletes on the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference's (OCCAC) Fall All-Academic team.
Incredibly, 10 of the 12 student-athletes on the Owens women's volleyball roster earned recognition, while women's basketball freshman forward Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio) rounded out the list.
In order to make the team, a student-athlete must complete 12 credit hours in the fall semester with at least a 3.30 GPA. Prior to this year, the conference had one team for the whole school year, and a student-athlete had to have completed at least 24 credit hours with a 3.30 cumulative GPA.
Not only did 10 volleyball student-athletes achieve the standard this fall, but six of them did so with 4.00 GPAs. That list includes freshman outside hitter Erika Angstmann (St. Marys Memorial/St. Marys, Ohio), sophomore defensive specialist Brooke Gyori (Clay/Oregon, Ohio), freshman middle blocker Devon Heitkamp (New Bremen/New Bremen, Ohio), freshman outside hitter Madison Lammers (New Knoxville/New Knoxville, Ohio), sophomore outside hitter Annie Lindeman (Ottoville/Ottoville, Ohio) and sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Ashley Pleiman (Fort Loramie/Fort Loramie, Ohio).
Pleiman was previously named the outstanding graduate in the business administration concentration during fall graduation. In addition to her, Gyori, Lindeman and Tylutki also made the 2015-16 OCCAC All-Academic team.
The other four who made the team in the fall include freshman setter Carrigan Gray (Liberty-Benton/Findlay, Ohio) with a 3.78 GPA, freshman right side hitter Olivia Hermiller (Ottawa-Glandorf/Ottawa, Ohio) with a 3.46 PGA, sophomore middle blocker Tyanna Smith (Bowling Green/Bowling Green, Ohio) with a 3.52 GPA and sophomore setter/right side hitter Christine Tylutki (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) with a 3.56 GPA.
Gyori (University of Tennessee at Martin, NCAA Division I), Smith (Shawnee State University, NAIA) and Lindeman (Shawnee State University, NAIA) have already signed to play at four-year schools. Tylutki and Pleiman are still considering their options.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES
Frost and the Owens women's basketball team is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation with a 22-0 overall record and a 9-0 record in OCCAC play. The team is back in action tomorrow at Lorain County Community College beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Frost is averaging 5.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for Owens. She is shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from 3-point range and 85.7 percent from the foul line. Despite missing 10 games recently due to injury, she has started six of 11 games played.
VOLLEYBALL 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.
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, Kennedy Ames, a 5-7 defensive specialist/outside hitter from Edison (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, Lammers, Heitkamp, Angstman and Hermiller. 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