ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Oakland volleyball team will take on Northern Kentucky Friday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. inside Regents Hall, then close out the regular season with a match at IUPUI, Saturday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. inside The Jungle. The Golden Grizzlies will be battling for a spot in the league championship tournament. See the full tiebreaker scenarios
here.
Last time out, Oakland took down first-place Green Bay on senior day in a five-set thriller on Nov. 2.
INSIDE THE SERIES
- Oakland is 11-24 all-time against IUPUI.
- The Golden Grizzlies dropped their first home match since 2009 to the Jaguars on Sept. 28.
- Oakland is 11-2 all-time against NKU.
HORIZON LEAGUE TOP-10 RANKINGS (as of Nov. 7)
NOTES
- Lentz was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week on Nov 5. after recording her second career triple-double with 11 kills, 43 assists and 14 digs as the Oakland volleyball team upset first-place Green Bay in five sets on senior night on Nov. 2. Lentz also led all players with a .455 hitting percentage and registered four blocks. At the time, Lentz was just the 29th player in the NCAA to record a triple-double this season.
- Wightman was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 29 after notching 51 digs, averaging 6.38 digs per set, during the Oct. 26 and 27 contests.
- Wightman recorded 33 digs against UIC on Oct. 27, which is tied for the sixth most in a match in school history. It was her second career match with 30-plus digs, both coming this season.
- Walling has recorded three matches of over 20 kills this season.
- Oakland owns six of the top-10 attack percentage performances in the conference this season including the top three. Walling owns the top two attack percentage outings on the season among league players both coming on Aug. 25, hitting .565 against Indiana State and .583 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- Walling set a career high with 23 kills on Oct. 13 vs. Milwaukee, then matched that in her next outing on Oct. 20 vs. Youngstown State. Both are the second-most kills by a Horizon League player in a single match this season.
- Davis recorded a season high 10 blocks on Oct. 3 against Wright State which is also the most by a Horizon League player this season.
- On Aug. 28 Oakland secured a 3-1 win at Bowling Green as Wightman recorded 39 digs, the second-most in program history for an individual match and was just three digs short of breaking current Oakland assistant coach Lauren Duquette's record of 41.
- Walling was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27 after finishing with 40 kills in Oakland's first three matches in which the Golden Grizzlies took the tournament title at Purdue Fort Wayne. She registered 2.86 kills per set and a .451 hitting percentage while committing just eight errors in 71 attempts and was named to the all-tournament team.
- The Golden Grizzlies claimed the Purdue Fort Wayne Tournament title (Aug. 24-25), their first tournament title since 2016. Lentz was named the tournament MVP.
- Rob Beam is in his 12th season with Oakland compiling a 185-167 (.526) record.
- Oakland was picked to finish second in the 2018 Horizon League Volleyball Preseason Poll earning three first-place votes and 67 points overall, just two points behind preseason favorite and reigning league champion Cleveland State.
- The Golden Grizzlies are coming off a 2017 season in which they finished second in the conference with a 12-4 record and a 17-12 overall record. The 12 league wins matched a program-best in the Division I era for Oakland and was the fifth time the Black and Gold recorded 12 wins in league play under Beam.
- Oakland returns all-league selections Davis and Walling to the 2018 squad plus starters Lentz and Wightman.
- Davis led the conference in total blocks (161) and blocks per set (1.42) a season ago which ranked 19th and 20th respectively in the NCAA and were single season school records.
- Walling enters her sophomore campaign after leading the team with a .295 hitting percentage as a freshman, the fourth-best in a single season in Oakland history. She also became the first freshmen to lead Oakland in hitting percentage since 2014.
- The Golden Grizzlies have a new look to their coaching staff this season adding former players Duquette (assistant coach) and Sammy Condon (graduate assistant). Duquette takes over duties for associate head coach Claire Galli who will miss the 2018 season on maternity leave.
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