Owens Tech opens up own invitational 2-0

Published 7:46 pm Saturday, August 30, 2014

TOLEDO, Ohio — The Owens Community College women’s volleyball team opened up play in the Owens Invitational Friday with a pair of wins over Monroe College and No. 14 South Suburban College.

With the wins, Owens improves to 5-1 overall, and they have now won four straight matches.

In its first match, Owens defeated Monroe College 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 19-25 and 15-5.

Erika Hartings (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio) and  Macy Reigelsperger (Coldwater/Coldwater, Ohio) combined for 37 kills, which required the Express to pull together after losing a two-set lead.

Hartings finished with 19 kills, along with two digs, two assisted blocks and one solo block, while Reigelsperger had 18 kills, one assist, four aces, seven digs and four assisted blocks.  Ally Mikesell (St. Henry/St. Henry, Ohio) also had double digit kills with 10, while adding three assisted blocks.

Deanna Smith (Riverview/Riverview, Michigan) and  Jessica Cooper (Brandywine/Niles) had 20 and 19 assists, respectively, to lead the team. Aricka LaVoy (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) led the team with 10 digs, while Ciarra Wirick (Benjamin Logan/West Liberty, Ohio) and Cooper each had eight.

Reigelsperger’s four aces was a team high. As a team, the Express produced 15 assisted blocks and two solo blocks. Reigelsperger’s four assisted blocks was a team-high, while Mikesell (3),  Taylor Purcell (Bedford/Temperance, Michigan), Kayla Siekfer (Kalida/Ottawa, Ohio), Hartings and  Sara Turner-Smith (Cardinal Stritch/Toledo, Ohio) each added two.

Monroe College entered the match undefeated.

In the nightcap, Owens defeated No. 14 South Suburban 25-18, 25-14 and 25-20.

Ownes was able to take down the 14th-ranked team in the nation in straight sets behind 18 assists from Smith, 10 kills from Reigelsperger and double figure digs from LaVoy (11) and Wirick (10).

Aside from Reigelsperger, who produced her sixth straight double figure kill total to open her collegiate career, the Express had a balanced effort in that category. Purcell had seven, with Mikesell and Hartings each with six and  Amara Hemenway (Bellevue/Bellevue, Ohio) with five.

Aside from Smith’s 18 assists, Cooper added 14. Hemenway produced a team-high five aces, while the rest of the team added five more. Aside from LaVoy and Wirick’s dig totals, Smith added seven.

In the second match, the Express had one solo block (Reigelsperger) and 10 assisted blocks, led by five from Reigelsperger.