Sept. 23, 2011

Box Score

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Allison Bell had 11 kills and had a hitting percentage of .476 and Alli Kirk had 14 digs as the Oakland University volleyball team (6-6, 1-2) falls in straight sets to North Dakota State (10-5, 4-0), 18-25, 14-25 and 22-25, in the Athletics Center O'rena Friday night.

"I am encouraged to see that Allison Bell and Jenna Lange both performed well offensively tonight," said head coach Rob Beam. "We need to be a little sharper on the outside and on serve receive and that will be something we focus on tomorrow."

Ashley Nevelle had 21 assists on the night, helping Bell and Jenna Lange who had seven kills lead the team in kills for the match. In the back line Kirk led the way followed by Meghan Bray with nine digs and Nevelle with seven. NDSU played well all night led by Lauren Commack who had 11 kills and Megan Lambertson who had 11 kills and had a hitting percentage of .556 for the match. The Bison hit .306 as a team with Jennifer Lopez running the offense finishing with 41 assists.

Both teams were even early in the first set until NDSU took control leading by as many as seven points in the set. Oakland fought back with a match-high 15 kills in the set but it was not enough as they fell 25-18. North Dakota State jumped out in front early in the second set and dominated hitting .520 as a team for the set and winning 25-14.

Oakland pushed hard to extend the match as they were down as many as six and closed the gap late being only down one with the score 22-21. However, the Bison capitalized on Oakland errors and with some timely kills won the third set 25-22 and won the match.

"I expect to come out with a little more focus tomorrow and know that every match is important in our league no matter who the opponent is," said Beam.

Oakland will be on the court tomorrow night as they host South Dakota State in the Athletics Center O'rena at 7 p.m. Fans who are unable to attend the match can follow live stats at OUgrizzlies.com.

-OAKLAND-