Oct. 5, 2013

Box Score | Photo Gallery

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Cassie Pelloni had a match-high 25 kills and Mary Grassano added 23 digs to lead the Oakland women's volleyball team (7-11, 1-3 HL) from two sets down to force a fifth set, that Cleveland State (12-4, 2-1 HL) would eventually win. OU lost with set scores of 16-25, 23-25, 27-25, 25-21 and 11-15.

"I admire the courage that our team showed after a slow start to the match," said coach Rob Beam. "For a young group, playing without a veteran leader, the competed admirably against a strong opponent. We continue to be impressive in stretches and we have to learn how to sustain that level. When we learn to do that we will win these close four and five-set matches consistently."

Ciara Schultz and Alissa Valentine recorded 29 and 20 assists, respectively, while Melissa Deatsch finished the match with 17 digs, eight kills and six service aces.

In the deciding set, the Vikings used a five-point rally to take a 11-7 lead and used the momentum to take the set 15-11. CSU did not have a hitting error while recording eight kills in the set while OU had 10 kills in the set.

Cleveland State came out on fire as they recorded 16 kills in the opening set to finish with a .452 hitting percentage as they led by as many as 11 points for the 25-16 victory. The Vikings took the 2-0 advantage in a tight second set as both teams were tied at 12-12, but CSU would score eight out of the next 11 points to go up 20-15. OU would tie the set at 23-23 behind two kills from Pelloni but the Vikings would take the set 25-23.

The Golden Grizzlies trailed 21-18 at the end of the third set until they won six consecutive points led by three kills by Pelloni and a service ace by Deatsch as they won the third set 27-25. OU forced the deciding set with a 25-21 fourth set win as OU used a big 10-2 rally in the middle of the set as Deatsch recorded three service aces during the run.

Oakland will be on the court next week when they travel to Wright State to take on the Raiders in a Horizon League match on Friday, Oct. 11 at C.J. McLin Gymnasium starting at 7 p.m.

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