Aug 30, 2013

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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Cassie Pelloni tallied 14 kills while Mary Grassano earned 13 digs in a thrilling Oakland victory over in-state foe, Central Michigan, 3-1, at the Golden Grizzlies Invitational on Friday in the Athletics Center O'rena. OU won the final three sets, 26-24, 25-22 and 25-21, after dropping the first 26-15.

"Central (Michigan) did a lot of things that it takes to win," said OU Coach Rob Beam who improved to 2-1 all-time against CMU. "They out-killed us, but made a few more hitting errors and we were able to get a pretty good advantage in the serve and receive game as well as in blocking. It came down to winning a couple close points in the end of the close sets and the way we finished in the fourth was pretty spectacular."

The first set was mainly controlled by the Chippewas who rang the score up to 4-0 in the opening volleys of the game. Oakland was able to earn points during the course of game action, but was never able to gain control of the set, trailing by as many as nine points as CMU took the first set in convincing fashion, 25-16.

OU changed their tune though as the second set got off to a much closer start. The score was knotted six times before CMU took a three-point advantage at 11-8. Oakland would not let the set get out of its grasp however as the two teams were tied once more at 13-13 after a service ace by Taylor Humm and an attack error by Central Michigan. The teams would continue to battle a close set but the Grizzlies were able to even the match at one set a piece, winning set two 26-24.

After having evened the match 1-1, the momentum had clearly shifted in favor of OU when they jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the third set. The score was then tied 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12 before Oakland took a three-point lead after a kill by Humm and held on to win the set, 25-22, leading the match 2-1.

In the final affair of the night, the visitors gained a quick three-point lead at 4-1 but committed an attacking error to give the ball back to the Grizzlies who then tied the score after kills by Grassano and Humm. The set's score remained tight as CMU battled to force a fifth set in the match but OU gained some steam after the score was tied 13-13, going on a five-point tear including a strong kill by Brooke Wadsworth, forcing the Chippewas to take a timeout. The home team stayed strong however and closed out the set 25-21 to take the match 3-1.

The Oakland volleyball team will continue tournament action tomorrow with a match at noon against Villanova and another against Oregon State at 7 p.m. in the O'rena.

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