TOLEDO, Ohio --- The No. 2 Owens Community College volleyball team (19-6, 8-1 OCCAC) will ride a five-match winning streak into a busy weekend of action.

The Express, which has only dropped one set during the recent tear, will host conference foe Lorain County Community College tonight at 6 p.m. in the SHAC. For fans interested in attending the match, please read our Covid-19 fan policy here. Following that, they'll head to Port Huron, Mich. to take on Rochester University JV, Lake Michigan College and host St. Clair County Community College in a trio of non-conference matches starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Over the past week, the Red and White have produced a pair of wins over Hocking College (3-0) and Edison Community College (3-1) on the road.

Last Saturday, Owens produced an all-around team effort in the sweep of the Hawks as five players had at least three kills with Maddie White, McKenna Babcock and Sydnie Meinke each pacing the team with five. Sydney Alford (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic HS) had double-digit digs with 10 while Liz Scheckelhoff (Leipsic, Ohio/Leipsic HS) notched three blocks. Emily Fallis (Toledo, Ohio/Southview HS) nearly had a double-double with eight assists and eight digs.

Then, on Wednesday, the Express won a thrilling 23-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-20 match over Edison in Piqua, Ohio. White (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf HS) had a huge all-around performance with 12 kills at a .300 clip, 24 assists, eight digs and three blocks (one solo). Offensively, Babcock (Metamora, Ohio/Evergreen HS) and Meinke (Curtice, Ohio/Clay HS) added 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

Alexis Sarvo (Swanton, Ohio/Swanton HS) and Taylor Momany also had nine apiece as Owens racked up 54 kills as a team. Fallis (26) led the team in assists as her and White combined for 50 of the team's 53 total assists.

Defensively, a trio of players had standout gems with Alford (21), Meinke (20) and Babcock (17) combining for 58 of the team's 76 digs. Additionally, Momany (Millbury, Ohio/Lake HS) had a team-best six blocks (three solo) with Sarvo (5) and Meinke (4) combining for nine more.

Those performances, and plenty others throughout the season, have helped Owens spend the past six weeks ranked second in the nation. Overall, they've been first or second in all eight polls so far with the next one slated to come out early next week.

Looking Ahead
Owens will close out the regular season slate of their schedule next week with a home match against Lakeland on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to Terra State on Friday in what could be a showdown for a share of the conference's regular season title.

NJCAA Division II No. 7 Terra State (28-3, 9-0), led by former Owens volleyball great Stephanie Champine, is currently one-game ahead of the Red and White in the standings with three left to play. The Titans edged the Express 29-27, 28-26, 25-21 on Sept. 1 in the SHAC.

For complete coverage of Owens Athletics, follow the Express on Twitter at @owens_express, on Instagram at @owensexpressathletics, on Facebook at /awinningtradition and online at OwensExpress.com.

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