Notre Dame: Live Stats | Watch
Purdue: Live Stats | Watch | Listen

ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Oakland volleyball team will travel to a pair of Power-5 schools in Notre Dame on Friday, Aug. 31 and No. 20 Purdue Saturday, Sept. 1. Both matches are at 6 p.m.

Friday's match against the Irish will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra while the match with the Boilermakers will can be viewed on BTN+ and will also feature a free audio stream.

The Golden Grizzlies, winners of three straight, are coming off a four set win at Bowling Green on Aug. 28, while both the Irish and Boilermakers are 3-0 on the season and have not lost a set thus far.  

NOTES

• Oakland has only faced Notre Dame once in its history, losing in four sets on Sept. 14, 2013 in Notre Dame.
• Oakland and Purdue will meet for the first time in program history. The Golden Grizzlies are 2-25 all-time vs. Big Ten opponents (wins: Michigan, 2-0, 1977; Rutgers, 3-1, 2013).
• Last ACC opponent Oakland faced: No. 24 Louisville, August 26, 2016 at Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Bowling Green (3-1 loss).
• Last Big Ten opponent Oakland faced: No. 20 Ohio State, Sept. 2, 2017 at D.C. Kohl Classic hosted by the Buckeyes (3-1 loss).
• This weekend marks the beginning of a tough five-match stretch for the Golden Grizzlies, as they face five Power-5 and/or ranked opponents: Aug. 31 at Notre Dame, Sept. 1 at No. 20 Purdue, Sept. 7 at No. 23 Michigan, Sept. 7 vs. No. 25 Colorado State and Sept. 8 vs. LSU.
• Oakland has never faced three top-25 teams in a season in its Division I history. 
• Last time out, Oakland secured a 3-1 win at Bowling Green as Lindsay 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.
• Jamie 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. Jordan Lentz was named the tournament MVP.
• Rob Beam is in his 12th season with Oakland compiling a 178-153 (.537) record.
• Oakland has finished third or higher in the Horizon League standings every season since 2010.
• 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 Walling to the 2018 squad plus starters Lentz and 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.
• 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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