Oct. 30, 2009

Box Score

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Freshman Meghan Bray turned in a 11-kill effort, while freshman Alli Kirk added a team-high 15 digs, but the Oakland University volleyball team (16-6, 9-5 Summit League) was unable to overcome the hot hitting of IPFW (16-9, 9-5 Summit League) as the Mastodons swept to a 3-0 win over the Golden Grizzlies on Friday at the Gates Sports Center.

The two teams are now tied for second place in the Summit League, with IPFW holding the tiebreaker over Oakland due to the Mastodons' 2-0 regular-season record against the Golden Grizzlies.

"Tonight we did not execute well enough to win in either phase of the game," said head coach Rob Beam. "I also give IPFW a lot of credit in that, they were very sharp."

IPFW won the opening set 25-18, and picked up 25-19 and 25-17 victories in sets two and three. IPFW hit a match-high .361 in the opening set, dropped to .279 in the second set and hit a match-best .394 in the final set. Oakland hit .306 in the opening set but dropped off to .143 in the second set before hitting .190 in the final set.

Freshman Brittany Holbrook turned in a seven-kill effort, while sophomore Allison Bell hit .312 with six kills. Sophomore Ashley Nevelle dished out 31 assists, while Bray turned in 12 digs for OU.

Sophomore Jenna Lange led the OU blocking effort with three block assists. In addition to the Mastodons hitting .339 for the match, IPFW notched five service aces. OU turned in two, with one coming off the serve of Kirk and another coming from junior Brittany Dunn.

The Golden Grizzlies will return to action Saturday, Oct. 31, as they travel to Valparaiso for a non-league match. A 7 p.m. start is scheduled.

"We are looking forward to playing Valparaiso tomorrow," added Beam. "They are a very talented team and we know we are going to have to play better than we did tonight. As a coach I love the fact that we get to respond right away."

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