Oct. 24, 2009
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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Sophomore Allison Bell set a new Oakland University record with an .818 hitting percentage, notching nine kills on 11 swings with no errors, freshman Meghan Bray added 15 kills and a .406 hitting percentage, and senior Nikki Pawson hit .556 with five kills as the Oakland University volleyball team (16-5, 9-4 Summit League) set a new school record for team hitting percentage, hitting .488 in a 3-0 rout over Centenary (4-18, 0-11 Summit League).
"We played really well," said Oakland University head coach Rob Beam. "I loved our team's enthusiasm. We did a great job of focusing all the way through to the end of the third set."
Oakland raced out to a 25-13 win in the opening set before winning 25-15 and 25-17 decisions in sets two and three.
Bell's record tops the previous individual mark of .769 set by Becca Moller against IUPUI on Nov. 8, 2003, while the team mark breaks the 20-year old record of .455, set on Oct. 20, 1989 against Lewis. Bell's .818 mark ties for the seventh-highest hitting percentage in Summit League history, while the team hitting percentage stands alone in seventh in league history.
"I give a ton of credit to Ashley Nevelle," added Beam. "We talked a lot about what kind of offense we wanted to run. Centenary did a great job of blocking in our earlier match. We had a great game plan going in and Ashley executed it perfectly." Nevelle led all players with 32 assists, assisting on 32 of Oakland's 47 kills. The Golden Grizzlies made just six attack errors in the whole match, and hit a match-high .600 in the opening set. Centenary's offense was outhit .488 to .045 for the match.
Defensively, short rallies kept dig numbers down, as freshman Alli Kirk led all players with 11 digs. OU turned in six team blocks, led by sophomore Jenna Lange's one block solo and three block assists. In addition to her 15-kill performance, Bray also added two service aces.
Lange also turned in a six-kill effort, hitting .417 while freshman Brittany Holbrook added a nine-kill performance and a .353 hitting percentage.
The Golden Grizzlies will return to action on Friday, Oct. 30, as the Golden Grizzlies square off against IPFW. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. OU will not return to the O'Rena until the season's final weekend.
"There are a lot of good, competitive volleyball matches left to be played," said Beam. "I'm excited about going to IPFW. We always have good matches with them. We'll focus on that one this week and let the rest fall into place."
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