No. 5 Express Volleyball Finishes 2-2 In Raider Challenge

By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Grand Rapids, MI---The No. 5 Express volleyball team faced stiff competition in the Raider Challenge this weekend and came away with a 2-2 record, including a loss to No. 3 Grand Rapids Community College.

On Saturday, the Express opened with a 21-25, 25-23, 14-25, 15-25 loss to Kishwaukee College. In the match, Alyssa Meis and Dakia Sellers each had nine kills, while Molly Hilfinger had a team-high 27 assists. Meis added two aces, Lisa Urbanski had 23 digs and Jazmine Thomas had two solo blocks.

Kishwaukee is now 2-0 against Owens this year as they defeated the Express in five sets on Sept. 2.

Following the loss, the Express bounced back on Saturday with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-22 win over Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Sellers (12) and Meis (11) led the team in kills, while Thomas added seven and Dominique Yates had six. Urbanski led the Express in assists with 17, but Hilfinger (12) and Meis (11) also had double figures. Urbanski led the team with 22 digs, while Meis had 11. As a team, Owens had eight assisted blocks, including a team-high four from Thomas.

Owens is now 2-0 against Kalamazoo Valley this year after a three set win against them on Aug. 25.

Today, the Express opened with a 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 win over Mott Community College. In that match, Sellers (13) and Meis (9) led the Express in kills, once again, while Thomas had seven. Hilfinger added a team-high 32 assists, while Meis (19) and Urbanski (17) led the team in digs. Brandi Schimming and Bailey Windham added seven digs apiece. Owens added 18 assisted blocks in the match, led by seven from Sellers. Yates added four assisted blocks.

It was the first matchup between Owens and Mott this year.

Despite a monster match from Meis, the Express then closed out the Raider Challenge with a tough four set loss to No. 3 Grand Rapids Community College, 23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 17-25. Meis finished with team-highs in kills (21) and digs (22). Sellers added eight kills and Thomas had six. Hilfinger had a team-high 36 assists, while three players added double figures in digs including Urbanski (19), Windham (16) and Schimming (15). In the match, Owens had five solo blocks and 14 assisted blocks. Sellers led the team with three solo blocks, while Sellers and Thomas each had four assisted blocks.

The Raiders, who hosted the weekend event, are now 2-0 against Owens this year after defeating them in four sets on Aug. 25.

The No. 5 Express are now 20-5 overall this year and still maintain an 8-0 record in OCCAC play. They will resume OCCAC action in their next match - Oct.3 at Cuyahoga Community College beginning at 6 p.m.