By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director
Toledo, OH -- After another busy week for the Owens Volleyball team, the Express found themselves holding steady at #2 nationally in the latest NJCAA Tachikara Divison III Poll for the third straight week. Owens finished the week at 3-2 overall. Owens won their midweek match against Edison in straight sets, before they headed off to the very competitive Parkland Invitational.
Owens would split their four matches over the course of the weekend. On Saturday, the Express would win their first match of the day 3-1 over Des Moines. The Express were led in kills by Kennedy Ames and Michaela Eisenhauser with 12 each. Also Kara Evers had 11 kills of her own. Summer Sweeting had 35 assists in the match and three service aces as well. The second match of the day pitted Owens against Illinois Central. The Express had their 19-game winning streak snapped, losing 3-1.
On Sunday, Owens would play against perennial power, Parkland, to start their day. While the Express were competitive in the match, they would fall to Parkland in straight sets, 3-0. Owens would close out their weekend play against McHenry. Michaela Eisenhauer was on fire again, finishing with 14 kills in the match to lead the Express to a 3-1 victory. Kara Evers was also in double digit kills with 11. Sweeting was the assists leader with 23.
For her efforts, Michaela Eisenhauer was named as the OCCAC Player of the Week for Division III. For the week, she had 59 total kills and 62 digs over five matches this past week. It is the second time this season that Eisenhauer has won the accolade this season. She also won the award back in the very first week of the season.
This week Owens has a little bit of an easier week, although both of their matches are on the road. The Express will be in action on Wednesday night against Sinclair. The Tartan Pride currently trail Owens by a half a game in the standings in the OCCAC. Owens will close the week with a game on Friday at Clark State.