Owens Adds Six After Winning National Title

Owens Adds Six After Winning National Title

By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo. OH -- It's been a little more than a week since the Owens Volleyball program captured its first ever National Championship, when the team defeated Eastfield 3-2. While the celebration is still ongoing, the Express coaching staff has been busy hitting the recruiting trail for the 2019 season. The team announced it has signed six players to add to the roster for next year. 

 Olivia Materni & Semira Neely - Southview High School: The Express bring in a pair of teammates who played for local Sylvania Southview. Semira Neely was named to the All-Northern Lakes League team is a junior and a senior. She was on the Third Team in 2017, and she was named to the second team during her senior season. Olivia Materni, like her teammate, was also a third team member in 2017 and a second team member in 2018 for the NLL. She also won the Coaches Award in 2017 and she was a four year member of the varsity team for volleyball.

 Rebecca Brown - Springfield High School: Rebecca Brown is another local Northwest Ohio product from Springfield High School. Brown was a decorated player during her time with the Blue Devils. She was a three time captain, who was also a member of the All-Northern Lakes League Second Team three times as well. She a Second Team All-District Selection and she was named as an Honorable Mention All-District as well. Rebecca was also Springfield's 2017 team MVP. Academically, she was on the NLL's All-Academic Team and the District All-Academic team as well. 

 Alexis White - Tiffin Calvert High School: Alexis White is a four year varsity letter winner from Calvert High School. She was a three time All-Sandusky Bay Conference (2nd Team - 2016, 1st Team-2017 & 2018) and a three time All-District Selection (2nd Team - 2016, 1st Team-2017 & 2018). White was Calvert's Team MVP in 2016 and 2017 too. She is a member of the school's National Honors Society, a Sentinel Ambassador and the Sentinel Class President as well. 

   Arielle Snider - Sidney High School: Arielle Snyder is from Sidney High School. She was a District 9 First Team selection in 2017 and 2018. She also played in the District 9 All Star Match after this past season. 

 Taylor Momany - Lake High School: Taylor Momany is the fourth local player to join the Express for next season. Momany played at nearby Lake High School. She was an Alll-Northern Buckeye Conference selection three times during her high school career (Honorable Mention - 2016, 2nd Team - 2017, 1st Team - 2018). She was also an All-District selection twice as well (Honorable Mention - 2016, 2nd Team - 2017). Momany was also Lake's Team MVP as well during her prep career.

Notes: 

- Owens is coming off of the school's first National Championship in program history. The team finished the season 40-6 overall and won their fourth straight OCCAC title, finishing 16-0 in the league. Coach Sonny Lewis was named Division III Coach of the Year, while Michaela Eisenhauer was named Player of the Year. Sophomores Kennedy Ames and Summer Sweeting were named to the NJCAA Division III All-Tournament Team this past season.