Commodores Fall In Four Sets to No. 4 Owens Community College

September 20, 2023 - The Lorain County Community College women's volleyball team fell short in their bid to upset the NJCAA DIII No. 4 Owens Community College Express Wednesday, falling in four sets, 3-1.

Top Commodores

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

Nilaysia Todd (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) – 10 kills

Maggie Riley (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) – 28 assists, 3 service aces

Izabel Gallardo-Santo Domingo (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS) - 32 digs, 3 services aces

Niyanna Flowers (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) – 3 blocks (2 solo)

Recap

The Commodores (4-7, 3-3) found themselves in a hole early on against the Express (10-5, 7-0), getting down 11-5 during the first set and calling a timeout.  After the break, LCCC tried to cut the deficit down but only managed to narrow the Owens lead to four points, 16-12.  From there, the Express used a 9-3 run to take set one, 25-15.

Set two started differently for LCCC, Filice got the Commodore scoring going and Todd added a kill to give them a 3-0 lead to start. The teams traded points until Owens tied it up at 11 and then took a 20-18 lead to force LCCC to call timeout. Owens used a 4-1 run out of the timeout and had the Commodores on the brink of a 2-0 deficit, 24-19. Filice connected for two kills and a block, Gallardo-Santo Domingo had a service ace, and an Owens hitting error got the Commodores back in the game to tie it up at 24-24.  After two Todd kills, LCCC found themselves with the lead 27-26 causing Owens to call their second timeout. With the scored knotted at 28, Flowers and Abbey Williams (North Ridgeville, Ohio/First Baptist Christian School) both got kills to get the win, 30-28, and even the match at 1-1.

Carrying that momentum into the third set, LCCC jumped out to an early 4-0 lead.  However, the Express used an 11-3 run to take control eventually pushing their lead to 17-8.  The Commodores climbed back to cut the deficit to 19-17, forcing an Owens timeout. A mishit by Owens cut the lead to one, but that would be as close as LCCC would get, falling 25-18.

Much like set three, LCCC held the early lead until Owens pulled ahead.  The Commodores would fight back to tie the set at 11-11 and briefly take the lead, 13-12.  From there, Owens used 13-4 rally to finish the match and take the season series against the Commodores. 

LCCC will face Owens again in the Region XII DIII tournament on the campus of Delta Community College on October 24.  Delta defeated Owens earlier this season on September 1 to secure home court advantage in the postseason tournament.

Next Up

LCCC will welcome in the Clark State Community College Eagles this Friday at 6 p.m. inside the Ewing Activities Center. LCCC won both matches against Clark State last season.