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Owens Express Welcoming Two Individuals, National Championship Team to Hall of Fame

Owens Community College will add two individuals and a national champion volleyball team to the Express Hall of Fame during a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader on Saturday, January 31.

The newest members of the Express Hall of Fame are former volleyball coach Sonny Lewis, multi-sport standout Heather Sobbry and the 2019 Express volleyball team that won a NJCAA national title.

Lewis and Sobbry will be inducted during halftime of the men’s game and the volleyball team will be inducted at halftime of the women’s game. The men’s game is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. with the women’s game following at 1 p.m.

Sonny Lewis

 

Heather Sobbry

 

2019 Volleyball Team

In between the two games, the Owens Community College Foundation will present the Jennifer Versey Copley Scholarship to two student-athletes to recognize their engagement in campus life within student organizations or athletics, Grace Toth and A’Leah Hodges, both members of the women’s basketball team. The scholarship was established in 2025 in honor of Jennifer Versey Copley, a member of the Express women’s basketball team in 1992-93.

Lewis coached the Express volleyball team from 2001 until his retirement in 2025. His teams went 870-240 overall (.771 winning percentage) while winning three NJCAA national titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021, while finishing in the top-4 three times during 12 national tournament appearances. Lewis led the Express to 19 Ohio Community College Athletic Conference titles, winning 96 percent of their 303 matches.

His 807 wins ranked second among active coaches at his retirement. He was named the OCCAC Coach of the Year 12 times and national coach of the year four times. He was inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2022, and he was named to the NJCAA Coaches Legacy Award list in 2025.

Sobbry, who came to Owens from Milan, Michigan, was the first three-sport athlete in college history, starring in women’s basketball, volleyball and softball from 1997-1999. She was a member of three OCCAC championship teams and four teams that appeared in the NJCAA national tournament, including two third-place national finishes.

In women’s basketball, Sobbry helped lead the Express to two OCCAC titles and two NJCAA national tournament appearances with a combined 56-17 record. She averaged more than eight points and nearly four rebounds, three assists and two steals during her career, being named All-OCCAC as a freshman.

Sobbry guided the volleyball team to a 76-23 record over two seasons, including an OCCAC championship and two third-place finishes at the NJCAA Division III national tournament. The Express went an astounding 46-7 during her sophomore season.

Sobbry batted .416 during the softball program’s first season in 1999. She led the team with six triples along with 27 runs and nine RBIs in 77 at bats.

The 2019 Owens volleyball team was coming off the program’s first national title in 2018 and was ranked at the No. 1 team in the nation entering the season. The Express won their first seven matches of the season, and after their first loss, they reeled off another 16 straight wins.

The Express finished the season with a straight-set win over Columbus State in the national title match, giving them a 43-4 record, the fifth straight year of at least 40 wins for Owens. During the postseason, Owens only dropped one set in nine matches. They also won their fifth straight OCCAC title.

Individually, Kayla Bekier and Rebecca Brown were named to the Division III NJCAA All-Tournament team, and Tyriana Settles was named the tournament MVP and Division III Player of the Year. Settles, Bekier and Brown were all named to All-America teams as well. Settles, Brown, Bekier and Semira Neely were named All-OCCAC, and Lewis was named OCCAC Coach of the Year.

Brown finished the season with 1,648 assists and Settles had 640 kills, both of which led the nation.

Members of the 2019 volleyball team and their hometowns are: Arielle Snider (Sidney); Kayla Bekier (Northwood); Raelyn Hutchinson (Delta); Tyriana Settles (Fostoria); Olivia Materni (Sylvania); Semira Neely (Sylvania); Rebecca Brown (Maumee); McKinsey Finnen (Sylvania); Shyah Wheeler (Elida); Megan Dunne (Rossford); and Taylor Momany (Millbury). Along with Lewis as head coach, assistant coaches were Denny Caldwell, Kristen Gyori and Maddy Smyth.