Oct. 23, 2009
Box Score
ROCHESTER, Mich. - Freshman Meghan Bray and sophomore Jenna Lange both turned in 18 kills, while freshman Brittany Holbrook added 13 kills as the Oakland University volleyball team (15-5, 8-4 Summit League) won a 3-2 thriller over Oral Roberts (9-10, 5-5 Summit League) on Friday night at the Athletics Center O'Rena.
"We had some success. Jenna had a career high the first go-around," said Oakland head coach Rob Beam. "That laid the foundation for us to find some success in the middle and allow Ashley (Nevelle) to take some risks setting the middle, and I think it paid off. The offense out of the middle position was obviously very good and key for us winning the match tonight."
The Golden Grizzlies fell 28-26 in the opening set before responding with back-to-back 25-21 wins in sets two and three. Oral Roberts came back with a 25-22 win in the fourth set before Oakland closed out the match with a 15-10 victory in the fifth. The match was the ninth five-set contest for the Golden Grizzlies this season. OU is 6-3 in the matches that go the distance.
"This is a team that has a lot of courage and a lot of fight," added Beam. "I am proud of the effort tonight, this is a great win for us."
Sophomore Ashley Nevelle dished out a match-high 49 assists. Freshman Alli Kirk turned in 25 digs to lead all players while junior Brittany Dunn added 19 in the winning effort. Kirk and Dunn combined to go 43-for-44 in serve-receive over the course of the five-set match.
"The ball going to middle-back was certainly part of our scouting report," said Beam. "Having both (Alli) and Brittany keying our defense was huge. In the last set we had some great effort plays and it produced some points."
OU held a .196 to .169 hitting advantage for the match, hitting a match-high .375 in the second set. OU posted five aces for the match, with two coming from Nevelle. Bray added eight digs and was a perfect 32-of-32 on serve-receive. Holbrook also assisted on three of OU's four team blocks.
Oakland will return to action Saturday, Oct. 24, when they host Centenary at the Athletics Center O'Rena. A 7 p.m. match is scheduled.
-30-
