Sept. 17, 2011
Box Score
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Ashley Nevelle had 40 assists and 14 digs in her season debut and Meghan Bray had 15 kills to lead the Oakland University volleyball team (6-4, 1-0) over defending Summit League Champion IPFW (6-5, 0-1), 25-16, 26-24, 17-25, 25-23, Saturday night in the Gates Sports Center.
"This was a great win for us tonight," said head coach Rob Beam. "IPFW is a quality team and they had a huge home crowd. I thought our team did a great job of being focused and executing under pressure."
Jenna Lange led the front line with four blocks while three players had double-digit digs, Nevelle, Alli Kirk (12) and Jillian Kulka (10), as the Golden Grizzlies were strong defensively all night holding the Mastodons to a .112 hitting percentage for the match. Three Grizzlies hit for double-digit kills with Bray leading the way followed by Brittany Holbrook (12) and Katie Horling (10).
Oakland came out strong in the opening set holding IPFW to only eight kills and forced eight hitting errors while winning the last seven straight points to win the set 25-16. Both teams played a tight second game but with the score tied 24-24, Bray killed a set from Nevelle and Holbrook had a solo block to win the set 26-24. After dropping the third set, OU was down 20-16 in the fourth until they won six straight points and nine out of the last 12 to take the match.
Oakland will continue their road trip at Western Illinois on Monday at Waste Management Court starting at 8:00 p.m. CT.
-OAKLAND-
