By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The No. 3 Owens Community College women's volleyball team finished off two more victories in straight set fashion to close the Battle of the Dells Invitational on Saturday.
Match 3: No. 3 Owens d. North Iowa Area 25-17, 25-14, 25-18
The trio of Michaela Eisenhauer (Margaretta/Castalia, Ohio), Jordan Alt (Ottawa-Glandorf/Ottawa, Ohio) and Erika Angstmann (St. Marys/St. Marys, Ohio) led Owens offensively with seven kills apiece as the team hit .318 overall to pick up its third straight set win in a row to open the season.
Alt and Eisenhauer combined to hit .407 on 27 attempts. Devon Heitkamp (New Bremen/New Bremen, Ohio) added five kills, while Olivia Hermiller (Ottawa-Glandorf/Ottawa, Ohio) finished with four kills at a .444 clip.
Carrigan Gray (Liberty-Benton/Findlay, Ohio) and Summer Sweeting (South Central/North Fairfield, Ohio) led Owens in assists with 20 and 17, respectively. Angstmann, Eisenhauer and Cassidy Wlodarz (Cardinal Stritch/Oregon, Ohio) each had a team-high two aces.
Niki Polce (Huron/New Boston, Mich.), who had one assist and one ace, tied Wlodarz for the team-high in digs with six. Eisenhauer added four while the team totaled 24 overall. Eisenhauer also had a team-high three assisted blocks, while Angstmann and Alt each added two.
As a team, Owens finished with 38 kills and 10 errors over 88 attempts for a .318 hitting percentage.
Match 4: No. 3 Owens d. Kansas City Kansas 25-20, 25-18, 25-20
In Saturday's second match, Angstmann produced a season-high 11 kills at a .478 clip, while Polce had a season-high 15 digs defensively to lead Owens to a hard fought win over Kansas City Kansas.
Heitkamp and Hermiller each added six kills to tie for second on the team, while Eisenhauer and Ally Angstmann (St. Marys/St, Marys, Ohio) had five apiece.
Gray (20) and Sweeting (18), once again, teamed up to lead the team in assists. In fact, the duo had every one of the team's assists. Polce, in addition to her team-high 15 digs, also led the team with four aces.
Alt exploded for a season-high eight assisted blocks, while Heitkamp added five. Owens had 20 total blocks, two of which came of the solo variety from Heitkamp and Eisenhauer.
NOTES
Other performers from Saturday were Brynn DuVall (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.), who had two digs and two blocks over a pair of sets; Madison Lammers (New Knoxville/New Knoxville, Ohio), who had five kills, three digs, one solo block and one assisted block over four sets; and Kennedy Ames (Milan Edison/Norwalk, Ohio), who had four kills, two digs and one block over two sets.
This was the fourth straight season Owens has participated in the Battle of the Dells Invitational, and it was the first year in which the team went 4-0. Overall, they are now 13-3 over those four seasons in the invitational.
In fact, the 4-0 start is the best start to a season since the 2011 team won its first five matches.
NEXT UP
Owens (4-0) will travel to Elyria, Ohio to battle Lorain County Community College, one of the nation's top National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III teams on Wednesday. The Commodores will enter the match at 2-0 following wins over Schoolcraft College and Mercyhurst North East Community College.
Then, this weekend, Owens will host Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Jackson College, Waubonsee Community College, Schoolcraft College, Muskegon Community College and Oakland Community College in the Owens Invitational.