ROCHESTER, Minn. --- Ashley Scott delivered the match-winning point on a kill from the right side as No. 2 Owens Community College (29-7) became the first NJCAA Division III volleyball team to capture three consecutive national championships with a thrilling 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12 win over No. 1 Rock Valley (34-8) at the Regional Sports Center on Saturday.
Maddie White, who had team-highs in kills (21) and digs (17) while adding five assists and three blocks in the championship match, was named the MVP of the national tournament. Sydnie Meinke and Emily Fallis each earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Owens head coach Sonny Lewis was also named the NJCAA Division III Coach of the Year for the third-consecutive season.
"I'm just so happy for the players," Lewis said. "After not playing last year and having almost an entirely new team, they worked hard this whole year to get to this point. I'm proud of them."
The Express are now 40-3 in postseason play over the past six seasons with three national titles, a national runner-up finish, a third-place finish and a ninth-place finish. Since moving to the Division III level, the Red and White are 22-0 over the past three seasons, and they have dropped just five total sets over those 22 matches.
In addition to White's 21 kills, Scott added 11 kills, while Alexis Sarvo had nine more. Fallis (25) and Jessica Dohm (24) combined for 49 assists. Sydney Alford chipped in four assists and finished second on the team with 16 digs. Defensively, Meinke (15), McKenna Babcock (15) and Fallis (10) chipped in double-digit digs. Taylor Momany added six kills and two blocks, and Sarvo had a team-high four blocks.
White's double-double was her 11th of the season. Fallis notched her seventh.
Owens was also able to overcome the two-headed offensive attack of Rock Valley's Addison Metts and Madisen Perry, who had 32 and 23 kills, respectively. The duo combined for 55 of the team's 71 kills.
In the opening set, Owens fell into a 21-12 hole but reeled off 12 of the next 15 points to pull within one following an ace from Dohm, but Metts gave Rock Valley a narrow 25-23 win for the early lead. The momentum for Rock Valley continued in the next set as they took a 17-11 lead, but Owens went on a 9-3 run to knot the set at 20. Back-and-forth action ensued, including back-to-back kills from White that tied it at 23. After a timeout, Owens finished the 4-0 run to conclude the set with a block from White and Scott for another 25-23 result.
Rock Valley controlled the third set from start to finish, never trailing. Owens reeled off four in a row late to pull within one, but an attack error gave Rock Valley yet another 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead overall.
In the fourth, Owens was able to score the set's first point for the first time in the match. Later, clinging to a 15-14 lead, the Express scored four straight, punctuated by a kill from Babcock to stretch the lead a bit. From there, Owens maintained its margin and got the match-tying kill from Sarvo for a 25-20 win.
The fifth set was everything you'd expect from the nation's top two teams fighting for a national championship. It was back-and-forth from the start as the teams split the first 10 points. Rock Valley then held a two-point lead on three straight occasions, including a 9-7 margin, but Momany and White notched back-to-back kills to tie it, and Meinke added an ace to give Owens a 10-9 lead.
Moments later, Rock Valley responded by taking a 12-11 lead, but White and Scott hammered down back-to-back kills to force a timeout. An attack error then gave the Express three match points. Following another timeout, Scott took a pass from Dohm and set off a celebration as she delivered the kill off the block and out of bounds.
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