ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Oakland volleyball team will begin Horizon League play by hosting a pair of matches inside the O'rena Saturday, Sept. 22 against Youngstown State at 4 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 23 against Cleveland State at 2 p.m. Sunday's match against the defending league champions will be streamed live on ESPN3 with Brad Golder on the call.
Last time out, the Golden Grizzlies split a pair of matches in their final non-conference slate at the Redhawk Invitational hosted by Miami (OH). Oakland fell to the host Redhawks in four sets, but bounced back the next day, taking down Saint Francis (PA) 3-1.
INSIDE THE SERIES
- Oakland is 11-6 all-time against Youngstown State.
- After losing its first six matches to YSU from 1998-2000, Oakland has won 11 straight against the Penguins dating back to 2013. Oakland has never lost a match to YSU since joining the Horizon League.
- Oakland has won in straight sets five of its last seven matches against the Penguins, with the other two being five-set wins.
- The Golden Grizzlies are 7-13 all-time against Cleveland State, with the Vikings winning three of the last four matches over Oakland.
- Oakland is 3-1 against CSU in its last four home matches.
NOTES
- The match between Oakland and Cleveland State will feature some of the top blockers in the league with five of the HL's top-10 blockers being from the two schools.
- Lindsay Wightman continues to be one of the top defenders in the conference, ranking second in the league in digs per set at 4.95.
- Opponents are recording just 14.9 digs per set against the Golden Grizzlies, the fewest in the league.
- 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.
- 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 179-159 (.529) record.
- Oakland has finished third or higher in the Horizon League standings seven out of the last eight seasons dating back to 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 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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