The Lakers traveled to Owens Comunity College tonight to face the NJCAA's 10th-ranked Owens Express in OCCAC action. Lakeland played oustanding volleyball early as they took the first 2 sets before eventually falling to the Express in a marathon match by a score of 3-2 (25-23, 25-18, 17-25, 13-25, 9-15). The Lakers came out swinging in the first two sets as they played outstanding defense while executing great passing with timely kills to take advantage of the Express. Lakeland was playing at an extremely high level as their communication was outstanding and they played superior team volleyball. This is the first time that Lakeland has taken 2 sets from Owens in years. Coach Watts commented, "We were right there. This is a game we could have won. We played so well early on - really showed what we are capable of - maintaining that level is our challenge. We've shown we can play with anybody." Unfortunately for Lakeland, they were unable to maintain that level and made some mistakes that they could not recover from in dropping the match. 

Taylor Williams-Stevens led the team with 14 kills, 2 aces, 3 solo blocks, and 2 digs. Samantha Winter had a team high 38 assists and added 7 digs with 2 block assists. Zoe Babnik finished with a team high 12 digs while Sydney Park recorded 9 kills, 3 aces, and 4 digs. Avrie Shenkel added 8 kills while Abby Karasek finished with 5 kills and 2 block assists. Estella Dotson picked up 7 digs while Rebecca Ferrell finished with 4 aces and 2 digs. Allison Hedrick recorded 2 digs and Alyssa Lino finished her evening with 3 kills, an ace, block assist, and a dig in the Laker loss.

Players of the Game:  Coach Watts stated, "All of them - each player had moments of greatness tonight. They all contributed and deserve to be recognized."

Watts' Word: "I'm very proud of the way we competed tonight - we were right there with one of the top teams in the country. Credit to Owens as they also continued to battle. We are very capable when we work together, communicate, and play as a team. We keep improving. I'm looking forward to seeing how we close out the season."

Next Up: The Lakers will travel to St. Clair County on Saturday (10/19) where they will face Kellogg CC in a 1:00 pm match. Following that, they will face the host Skippers in a 3:00 pm match.