By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Champaign, Ill.---The No. 5 Owens Community College women's volleyball team will face three National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II top 20 teams this weekend in the Parkland Invitational host by Parkland College.
On Saturday, Owens opens up its four-game weekend slate with two games against teams from Iowa. At 10 a.m. ET, they will face No. 20 Des Moines Area Community College before battling No. 4 Kirkwood Community College at 2 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, Owens faces No. 2 Parkland College, the host school and the defending national champions, at 10 a.m. ET before closing things out against unranked Rend Lake College out of Illinois at 12 p.m. ET.
Owens enters this weekend with a 14-2 record overall. They have won 10 straight matches and notched 17 straight set victories. The team's two losses have come to ranked NJCAA Division I teams - No. 17 Indian Hills and No. 20 Vincennes University. The team is currently fourth in the nation in hitting percentage, 15th in assists, 16th in kills and 19th in blocks.
Below are capsules of each opponent:
No. 20 Des Moines Area - Saturday at 10 a.m. ET (LIVE STREAM LINK)
10-4 overall record
Des Moines Area Community College enters tomorrow having won seven straight, although they haven't succeeded against quality teams for the most part. The combined record of the teams they have defeated prior to this afternoon is 53-57, while the combined record of the teams they have lost to is 44-14. At the same time, though, they picked up a quality win in straight sets over No. 3 Lincoln Land College this afternoon.
DMACC entered this weekend with a .222 team hitting percentage, but they are led by Moriah Johnson, who has 139 kills and a .321 hitting percentage. Leiah Paustian leads the team in assists with 262. As a team, DMACC has 80 blocks.
One common opponent between Owens and Des Moines Area is Muskegon Community College. Owens won its match against them in three sets, while Muskegon defeated DMACC in four sets.
No. 4 Kirkwood - Saturday at 2 p.m. ET (LIVE STREAM LINK)
17-2 overall record
Kirkwood Community College will enter this weekend's Parkland Invitational having won 16 straight, and one of their two losses this year came in straight sets to No. 2 Parkland College. As a team, they have lost only three sets since Aug. 27, which is when their winning streak began. During that stretch, they have defeated No. 3 Lincoln Land (3-0), No. 9 Fort Scott (3-1), No. 14 Illinois Central (3-0) and No. 15 McHenry County (3-0).
Kirkwood defeated No. 3 Lincoln Land and NJCAA D-I No. 20 Vincennes University this afternoon, and Owens will be its final match of the weekend. Prior to the matchup tomorrow, Kirkwood will battle Muskegon.
Individually, Kirkwood has three players with at least 100 kills, led by Madsy Richards at 178. Caiti Peterson leads the team with 520 assists. The team primarily uses seven players. They have five players with at least 100 digs, led by 213 from Jenna Laxton. A pair of sophomore middle blockers, Alex Miner and Erica Armstrong, have a combined 102 blocks.
No. 2 Parkland - Sunday at 10 a.m. ET (LIVE STREAM LINK)
23-1 overall record
Parkland is the defending NJCAA Division II national champions. Over the past three seasons, they are 163-6 overall. In 2013 and 2014, they finished as the national runner-up. In 2012, they finished third in the nation.
In 2016, Parkland has won 19 straight matches entering Saturday. The tail end of that streak also includes a 16 consecutive sets won streak. The team's lone loss was to NJCAA Division I No. 17 Indian Hills, which also handed Owens one of its two losses this year.
As a team, Parkland is first in the nation in blocks, as well as second in assists and kills. They have used 17 players in at least one match. They are hitting .363 as a team, which is No. 1 in the nation. They have lost only five sets all year and six players with at least 100 digs. Furthermore, they have combined for 375 assisted blocks this year, feature four players with at least 100 kills and have 10 sophomores.
Somehow, or inexplicably, Parkland dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the latest NJCAA Division II poll despite not having lost since early this season. In fact, they are 6-0 against teams currently ranked in the top 20 and have lost only two sets in those victories. Those opponents include No. 3 Lincoln Land, No. 4 Kirkwood, No. 8 Central, No. 10 Cowley County, No. 15 McHenry County and No. 19 East Central.
As host of the invitational, Parkland will compete in six matches this weekend. This afternoon, they defeated Rock Valley College and Muskegon. They will face McHenry County and Rend Lake tomorrow. Following that, they will face Jackson College and Owens.
Rend Lake (not ranked) - Sunday at 12 p.m. ET (LIVE STREAM LINK)
7-11 overall record
Rend Lake enters this weekend having lost five of its past seven matches. As a team, they are hitting just .165. They have three players with at least 100 digs. Stephanie Layne has a team-high 215 assists, while Dana Rubenacker has 23 aces and Ashley Allen has 107 kills. In fact, Allen is the lone player on the team with 100 kills.
NOTES
Live Streaming
All four matches of the tournament will be streamed live, and they will be archived online for free afterwards. For links to each match, you can click on each link above, or you can follow us on our social media pages at Facebook and Twitter, or you can stop by the schedule/results page at OwensExpress.com by visiting the link here. From there, just select the appropriate video link next to the match you want to watch.
Social Media
You can get live updates all weekend at our Twitter page by visiting @owensexpress. We'll post photo albums and other cool stuff on our Facebook page, which you can find by searching Owens Express Athletics. We also have an Instagram page where you can find unique photos and videos, and that can be found by also searching Owens Express Athletics. Post match videos, as well as other feature videos, can be found on our YouTube page - just search for Owens Express Athletics!