Nov. 15, 2008
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ROCHESTER, Mich. - Seniors Lauren Duquette, Leah Dupuie, Kelli Fiedler, Amy Golem, and Stephanie Parkin walked off the court at the Athletics Center O'Rena for the final time as winners, courtesy of a 3-1 victory by the Oakland University volleyball team (8-21, 5-11 Summit League) over IUPUI on Senior Night.
The Golden Grizzlies took the opening set 25-15 before IUPUI evened the match at 25-18 in the second set. OU rallied to take 25-16 and 25-22 victories in sets three and four to clinch the victory.
"It's fantastic to see something we worked about and talked about all season long really come to fruition on senior night," said head coach Rob Beam. "We rebounded well after the second-set loss and were offensively spectacular in the third set and that really propelled us into the match win."
Appropriately, the seniors led the way for OU, as Golem led OU with 15 kills, while Parkin added 13 kills, hitting .429, and Dupuie added 12 kills, hitting .450. Duquette tallied a match-best 20 digs.
"I got a sense this week in practice that our seniors were going to do something special and they did," added Beam. "It's really what I've come to expect out of this group. They have provided great leadership and they have laid so much of the foundation in what's going to come in building our program."
OU came back after hitting -.091 in the second set to hit an amazing .576 in set three, boosted by 20 kills with just one attack error.
"We played with all the passion and enthusiasm that our seniors deserved," said Beam. "Every player on the court played a great match with lots of energy. This was really one of our best offensive matches this season, so there was execution behind the energy as well."
The Golden Grizzlies were led by Katy Wilson's 29 assists. Fellow sophomore Samantha Filipek dished out 23, while junior Adrienne Leone posted 10 kills. Golem finished her career with a double-double, adding 10 digs to her 15 kills.
While the Golden Grizzlies missed out on the postseason, OU used several record-setting performances over the course of the 2008 season to build momentum for future seasons. Dupuie finished her career as the all-time leader in sets played and block assists, Golem ends her career as OU's all-time leader in kills per set, Duquette ends her career as OU's all-time leader in service aces, service aces per set, digs, and digs per set, while Leone will continue to add to her record totals in attempts and attempts per set next season.
The Golden Grizzlies' performance on the last weekend of the season gives Beam reason to be optimistic for the 2009 season and beyond.
"Momentum always carries over," said Beam. "It's going to carry over in the weight room, it's going to carry over in individual sessions, and it just gives us that extra boost of confidence in knowing just how good we really can be."
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