LCCC Falls After Forcing Fifth Set Against No. 6 Owens

September 10, 2023 - - The Lorain County Community College women's volleyball team pushed Owens Community College to the brink Friday evening but came up short in its bid to upset the NJCAA DIII No. 6 Express, losing 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 15-8).

Top Commodores

Nilaysia Todd (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) – 13 kills, .167, 8 digs, 5 blocks (3 solo)

Josie Filice (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood HS) – 13 kills, .105,

Izabel Gallardo-Santo Domingo (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS) – 43 digs, 5 assists, 5 services aces

Maggie Riley (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) – 6 kills, 44 assists, 14 digs, 2 services aces

Abbey Williams (North Ridgeville, Ohio/First Baptist Christian School) – 10 kills, .152, 2 blocks (one solo)

Lexa Bunevich (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood HS) – 13 digs

Recap

The first set saw the Commodores come out sluggish and out of rhythm. Scoring mostly on hitting errors and mistakes by Owens until LCCC head coach Ted Whitsel called a timeout with the Commodores trailing 16-10.  Out of the break, LCCC built some confidence by trading points with Owens despite losing the set 25-19.   They committed eight errors against 8 kills in the first set.

Set two featured more of the same for the Commodores with the Express jumping out to a 5-0 advantage.  Like the first set, LCCC never led but they were able to cut the Express deficit down to one point, 18-17, before Owens pulled away 25-19. LCCC had 11 kills but committed nine errors in the second game.

Set three and four saw LCCC breakout and get wins to force a fifth set where they combined for 30 kills and averaged .238 to win 25-17 and 25-18.

LCCC's Gabbie Barrison (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) and Todd connected for kills to tie the score at 2-2.  From there, Owens scored three straight to force a timeout from the Commodores.  After LCCC called their second timeout trailing 10-5, Todd blocked a tip attempt by the express, then Williams earned herself a block to cut the lead down to three, 10-7.  That would be all LCCC could offer as the Express used a 5-1 run to close out the match and take the win.

Next Up

The Commodores will have their chance to get revenge on September 20 when they host the Express inside the Ewing Activities Center Gymnasium.  The Commodores will hit the road against Penn State Shenango on Monday evening and then return home on Wednesday, September 13, at 6 p.m. to take on Cuyahoga Community College.  LCCC defeated the Triceratops at Tri-C on September 6 in three sets.