Sept. 21, 2013

Box Score

DEKALB, Ill. - Melissa Deatsch recorded nine kills and 10 digs as Oakland (6-8) lost its last game of the Huskie Invitational to host Northern Illinois (8-6) with set scores of 25-18, 25-22 and 25-21 on Saturday afternoon. Amanda Baker was also recognized to the All-Tournament Team, announced on Saturday evening at the conclusion of the tournament. The match concludes non-conference play for the Golden Grizzlies as the team looks to begin conference play in the Horizon League next weekend.

"This morning we did not quite have enough consistency in our offensive execution to score against NIU," said head coach, Rob Beam. "They put a lot of pressure on us through the middle of each set and we could not close the gaps at the end. We are all looking forward to our first Horizon League matches this coming weekend. We will need to apply the lessons that we have learned through our tremendously tough preseason schedule. I believe in this group and know we have high-end potential."

As a team, the Golden Grizzlies hit .108, including .077 and .028 in the first two sets, while the Huskies were strong all match offensively, putting up a cumulative .283 hitting percentage.

The first set began as a close one as the score was tied at 9-9, but then Northern Illinois gained some momentum and cruised to a 25-18 victory for the advantage in the match. In the second set, the Huskies continued their energy from set one and jumped ahead of OU until Deatsch was able to earn a kill that tied the two sides, 11-11. Oakland enjoyed a one-point lead but Northern Illinois would not let the game out of their control by regaining the lead and winning set two, 25-22.

In what ended up being the final affair of the match, Oakland earned a four-point lead early on in the set at 6-2 and again at 7-3 and recorded its best hitting percentage of the game, but could not hold off the Huskies. Deatsch put two kills down in a row to tie the set at 10-10, but that seemed to be the extent of Oakland's rebuttal. Northern Illinois regained the lead for good and closed the set and match with a 25-21 third set win.

OU makes its much-awaited Horizon League debut this weekend on the road at Milwaukee (Sept 27, 8 p.m.) and at Green Bay (Sept. 28, 8 p.m.).

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