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ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Oakland volleyball team will begin its 2018 season at the Purdue Fort Wayne Tournament hosted by the newly-branded Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Friday Aug. 24 through Saturday Aug. 25 at the Gates Sports Center.
The Golden Grizzlies will open the tournament with a match against Liberty at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, marking the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Saturday's pair of matches will begin with Indiana State at 1:30 p.m. followed by Purdue Fort Wayne at 7 p.m.
NOTES
- Rob Beam enters his 12th season with Oakland compiling a 175-152 (.535) record.
- Oakland has finished third or higher in the Horizon League standings every season since 2010.
- Oakland is 0-3 all-time against Indiana State last facing the Sycamores in 2015 (3-1 loss).
- The Golden Grizzlies are 20-32 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne and faced them in 2017 losing in straight sets.
- 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 Krysteena Davis and Jamie Walling to the 2018 squad plus starters Jordan Lentz and Lindsay Wightman.
- Davis led the conference in total blocks (161) and blocks per (1.42) set 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.
- Oakland took down Toledo in four sets in exhibition play on Aug. 18 as Walling recorded a match-high 20 kills with a hitting percentage of .333 plus added four blocks and three digs.
- The Golden Grizzlies have a new look to their coaching staff this season adding former players Lauren 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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