Aug. 31, 2011

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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Alli Kirk had 20 digs and Alissa Valentine had 22 assists but it was not enough as the Oakland University volleyball team (2-2) fell to Eastern Michigan (3-1) in straight sets (25-27, 15-25, 24-26) Wednesday night at Convocation Center.

"Eastern Michigan certainly played well, but we did not play to our potential," said head coach Rob Beam. "We need to bring a much more competitive attitude for our home tournament this weekend."

In the first set, both teams played well as no team led by more than three points the entire set. Oakland fought from behind for most of the set and tied it at 25-25 after a big kill by Allison Bell but were unable to hold on to win. The Golden Grizzlies fell behind early in the second set as Eastern Michigan's Rachel Iaquaniello had scored four of the Eagles first eight points in the set. OU traded points for the rest of the set but was never able to overcome the early deficit and lost 25-15. The Black and Gold came out strong in the third set, taking a 17-14 lead behind six kills by Meghan Bray but were not able to hold onto the lead.

Becca Means had nine digs and Valentine added 11 more along with eight from Bray. Bray also led the team with 12 kills.

The Golden Grizzlies will be on the court Friday against Central Michigan at 7 p.m. in the first game of the Golden Grizzlies Invitational in the Athletics Center O'rena. OU will also be live streaming practice tomorrow starting at 3:30 at OUgrizzlies.com.

-OAKLAND-