By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Waterford, MI---The No. 9 Express volleyball team split a pair of matches on the road Tuesday against vs. No. 19 Oakland Community College and No. 29 Muskegon Community College.

In the first match against Oakland, Owens came out sluggish early on and dropped the first set 25-12. In the second game, the Express were down by five or six most of the way, including an early 5-0 deficit, but came back to take a thrilling 28-26 win. However, Oakland won the next two games 25-16 and 25-20 to win the match.

Following that, the Express bounced back strong with a straight set win over No. 29 Muskegon 27-25, 25-16, 25-21.

Brittany Egbert (Hopewell-Loudon/Fostoria, Ohio) led the Express with 19 kills, while Emily Crowell (Parkway/Rockford, Ohio) wasn't far behind with 16. Allison Seifker (Monroeville/Norwalk, Ohio) had 15, Whitney Hoodlebrink (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) had 14 and Julia Haupricht (Central Catholic/Toledo, Ohio) had 12.

Crowell finished with a team-high three aces, while Erin Schatzle (Monroe/Monroe, Mich.) had two.

Ellie Comes (Southview/Toledo, Ohio) once again led the way in digs with 38, while Molly Hilfinger (Anthony Wayne/Whitehouse, Ohio) had 17. Egbert contributed 16, while Haupricht and Schatzle had 13 each.

Hoodlebrink also led the team with 3.5 blocks, while Haupricht had three.

The Express are now 6-1. They will next host the Owens Invitational at home this weekend with action beginning on Friday and lasting through Sunday.

On Friday, the Express will play Vincennes at 3:30 p.m. before a big matchup against No. 1-ranked Johnson County Community College at 7 p.m. On Saturday, they will take on Hagerstown (Md.) Community College at 10:45 a.m. before battling No. 8-ranked Kishwaukee at 4 p.m. Then, on Sunday, they open with No. 6-ranked Illinois Central at 11:45 a.m. before finishing with a matchup against McHenry at 1:30 p.m.