National champs

Mercer County natives Kiah Wendel and Kara Evers had one goal in mind when they signed with the Owens Community College volleyball team in December 2017.

"In the past two years, they've got third and second (in the nation), so we're ready to get first next year," Wendel said after having signed her national letter of intent last year at Fort Recovery High School.

Operation complete.

The Express captured the NJCAA Division III championship last weekend with a 3-2 victory (25-20, 25-17, 25-20, 25-19, 15-13) over Eastfield College at the Regional Sports Center in Rochester, Minnesota.

Carlie Bengela's kill gave Owens the final point it needed in the fifth set. Wendel and Evers, both freshmen, had big performances in the victory, too. Wendel totaled 14 digs and an ace. Evers finished with nine kills.

"I talked to a couple of girls before the season and they told me that getting second (in 2017) and not winning was kind of hard," said Evers, a Marion Local graduate. "Winning it all was our goal this year. It's something we always worked towards. We said it every day in practice: We're going to win the national championship this year."

Leading up to the finals, top-ranked Owens posted three-set victories over Queensborough Community College (quarterfinal) and Rochester Community and Technical College (semifinal).

"The first two games we actually swept both of the teams," Wendel said. "But our championship game ended up going to five, and we won 15-13 in the last set. That was against the defending national champions from last year. That game was crazy, and literally three-fourths of the gym was rooting for the other team except one group of like seven players and our parents. It was really loud in the gym and everyone was kind of rooting against us, so we just used that as momentum.

"Going into the tournament we knew we would have a big target on our backs with us being ranked No. 1," Wendel added. "We had to go into every game with extra energy, but we knew if we played our game the way we could that we could beat anybody. With only having three sophomores, we knew that some of us freshmen would have to step up."

Wendel had 32 digs and four aces in the championship tournament. Evers totaled 20 kills. The duo also ranked among Express statistical leaders on the season. Wendel's 547 digs ranked 14th nationally and she also had a respectable 59 aces. Evers averaged 2.54 kills per set and 0.69 blocks.

The Express won their fourth straight OCCAC championship and finished with a record of 40-6, which matched the school-record win total from the 2017 season.

Prior to the arrival of Wendel and Evers, the Express had been one of the most successful NJCAA volleyball programs in the nation, but they hadn't won a national championship. This was the school's first national championship since the 1992-93 run by the men's basketball team.

"It was pretty awesome," Evers said of the experience. "(Assistant coach Denny Caldwell) was always talking about what it would be like going there to compete, but until you're there playing you really don't realize how awesome it is."