No. 17 Express Volleyball Finishes Fourth In Nation After Loss To No. 6 Parkland College
Toledo, OH---No. 6 Parkland College was too much for the No. 17 Express in the consolation match of the NJCAA D-II National Volleyball Tournament on Saturday as the Express fell in straight sets 25-20, 25-21, 25-18.
By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, OH---No. 6 Parkland College was too much for the No. 17 Express in the consolation match of the NJCAA D-II National Volleyball Tournament on Saturday as the Express fell in straight sets 25-20, 25-21, 25-18.
Alyssa Meis closed her career for the Express with nine kills and a team-high 14 digs, while another sophomore Molly Hilfinger had a team-high 27 assists and 11 digs.
Dakia Sellers also added nine kills, while Kenzie Kleinhenz (5) and Jazmine Thomas (3) also contributed in that category. In addition to Meis and Hilfinger, Lisa Urbanski (14) and Bailey Windham (11) also contributed in digs.
Thomas added a team-high six assisted blocks, while Kleinhenz and Sellers each added three.
Overall, the Express had 29 kills, 27 assists, 62 digs, 18 assisted blocks and two aces.
The Express finish the tournament in fourth place with a final overall record of 37-11, while Parkland (45-8) finishes in third.
Notes
Sellers was named to the All-Tournament team.
With their fourth place finish in the NJCAA D-II tourney, the Express have achieved their best finish in program history at this level - besting the 2003 team's fifth place finish. Prior to 2001, the Express competed at the NJCAA D-III level and finished third three times.
The fourth place finish is also the second best finish by any women's sport at Owens at the D-II level - coming in just behind the 2010 Express softball team's national runner-up finish.
Hilfinger finishes her Express career with the program records for most assists in a match (64), season (1,516) and career (2,344). Sellers finishes her freshman year with the program's single season kill record at 624, while Meis was just behind her at 616. Both Sellers and Meis broke the program's single season kills record previously held by Stephanie Champine (595, 2006), but Sellers had a few more.
Meis is the only player in program history with at least 500 kills and 500 digs in the same season.
Meanwhile, Urbanski finishes her freshman year with 965 digs, the second most in a single season in program history behind Ashley Hill's total of 1,006 in 2004.