Oct. 21, 2011

Box Score

BROOKINGS, S.D. - Meghan Bray had 20 kills and 18 digs and Taylor Humm combined for 15 kills and 18 digs as the Oakland volleyball team (12-9, 6-5) beat South Dakota State (12-13, 4-8) in four sets in Frost Arena Friday night. OU won with set scores of 24-26, 25-13, 25-23 and 25-21.

"We did a great job in turning our defense into scoring opportunities tonight," said head volleyball coach Rob Beam. "Our setters did a great job distributing the ball and that helped us respond after dropping the first set."

Ashley Nevelle and Alissa Valentine combined to run the offense combining for 44 assists, 29 and 25 respectively. Bray and Humm led the front line along with Allison Bell who had 11 kills. Alli Kirk led OU with 19 digs as Valentine added 15 as the team compiled 86 digs on the night.

Both teams came out fighting early on with nine lead changes and 14 ties in the first set, but SDSU pulled away late winning the last two points for the 26-24 opening set victory. Oakland came out strong in the second set earning 19 kills in the set led by Bray with nine kills and holding the Jackrabbits to a .043 hitting percentage to win the second set 25-13.

The Golden Grizzlies fell behind early in the third set, 5-1. OU tied the game at 14-14 and never looked back winning three straight points off a led by a Jenna Lange kill to win 25-23. The fourth set was another tight one as both teams were even at 12-12. However, a strong defensive effort helped Oakland pull away, holding SDSU to a .091 hitting percentage for the 25-21 victory.

The Golden Grizzlies will be in action tomorrow night as they take on second-place North Dakota State in Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse starting at 8 p.m. Fans can follow the action with livestats located on the volleyball schedule page on OUGrizzlies.com.

-OAKLAND-