Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Perrysburg, OH -- Saturday afternoon, the ninth ranked Raider volleyball team finished the Owens Invitational off with a convincing 3 sets to 1 victory over NJCAA Division 1 program, Vincennes University.  Earlier in the day, the Raiders were defeated by #2 ranked Parkland College in three.  Friday, the Raiders, now 6-3 on the season, defeated both of their opponents 3-1 and then 3-0.

After a dominating performance over conference rival Lansing CC on Thursday afternoon, the Raiders wasted no time in heading to Owens Community College for their annual tournament just outside of Toledo, Ohio.  The Raiders opened up with Waubonsee CC, who had won three in a row coming into the tournament.  After barely winning the first set, GRCC would wound up defeating the scrappy Chiefs in four sets (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20).  Freshman middle, Kylie Oberlin (Fruitport, MI), had her best offensive performance so far this year, hitting .474 with 10 kills and just 1 error. She also had 2 blocks. Annie Holesinger (Rockford, MI) led team in kills for the fourth time this year with 11.

Friday afternoon, the Raiders took on Sinclair CC, in what could easily be a Regional Tournament match up come November.  GRCC swept the match by winning 25-22, 25-22, 25-20.  Ten different Raiders scored at least one point and they were led by freshman setter/right side, Jamie Rozell (Grand Rapids, MI), who scored 13 with a season high 9 kills, 3 aces and 2 blocks.  Sophomore Danielle Johnston (Comstock Park, MI) was nearly unstoppable, racking up a team high 10 kills while hitting a .429 clip.  Johnson also led the team with 9 digs and tossed up a career high 4 assists.

Saturday morning the Raiders put their three match win streak on the line against Parkland... a team who had only dropped one set all season.  The Raiders jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first set, but the Cobras took the lead back at 16-15 and wouldn't trail the remainder of the set, winning 25-20.  In set two, the Raiders looked to have some momentum going, but a controversial reversed call turned an 8-8 set into a 7-9 set and the Cobras would cruise to a 25-13 win from there. Parkland would also take the third and final set, 25-13.  Holesinger and Johnston each had 6 kills while Rozell and Oberlin each had 3 blocks.

In the Raiders fourth and final match of the tournament, they faced off against Vincennes University, the team that is responsible for Parklands only set loss.  The Raiders knew they had to play some of their best volleyball to go home winners and that's exactly what they did.  They defeated the Trail Blazers 25-20, 25-27, 25-15, 25-16.  As a team, the Raiders racked up a season high 53 kills in the match and 69 digs, their third most of the season. Leading the way was freshman outside, Gabi Kitley (Grand Ledge, MI), who had a season high 12 kills, 10 digs and 3 aces.  Johnston and Holesinger combined for 21 kills and 13 digs.  Wearing the Libero jersey, sophomore Jasmine Wellet (Coldwater, MI) was all over the court, racking up a career high 25 digs in the match.  Rozell added 9 kills, 26 assists, 2 blocks and 2 aces.

Statistical Leaders for entire tournament:

Kills: Holesinger 34, Johnston 33, Rozell 30, Oberlin 22, Kitley 19
Aces: Rozell 7, Kitley 6, Mykayla Vallad  3
Digs: Wellet 46, Johnston 37, Rozell 33, Heather Coffman 32, Holesinger 22
Assists: Rozell 83, Jamie Wellet 17, Johnston 9
Blocks: Oberlin 11, Rozell 10, Kitley 7, Breanna Wickerink 6

The Raiders will be back on the court Tuesday and Thursday for a couple conference matches this week. Tuesday, the Raiders travel to Muskegon to take on the 5-4 Jayhawks.  Thursday they will be at Kalamazoo Valley CC, a team who is a perfect 6-0 on the season, including a win at Muskegon last week.  Both matches will be streamed live on Facebook.

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