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ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Oakland volleyball team will participate in the 2018 Michigan Challenge co-hosted by Michigan and Oakland Sept. 7-8. Matches will be played on both campuses. Colorado State and LSU join in the four-team, round-robin tournament.

The Golden Grizzlies will travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines Friday at 1 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena, then return to Rochester for their home opener that evening against Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. in the O'rena.  

Oakland will then host SEC foe LSU Saturday live on ESPN+ for its Overflow the O match, where the Golden Grizzlies will attempt to set the new volleyball attendance record.The Grizz Gang student section will have free pizza for students and the first 100 fans will receive a complimentary team poster.

The Black and Gold are coming off a pair of road losses to Notre Dame and then-No. 20 Purdue last weekend.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• Oakland is 1-12 all-time against Michigan and last faced the Wolverines in 2015 at Cliff Keen Arena (3-0 loss).
• The Golden Grizzlies are 2-26 all-time vs. Big Ten opponents (wins: Michigan, 2-0, 1977; Rutgers, 3-1, 2013).
• Last Big Ten opponent Oakland faced: No. 20 Purdue, Sept. 1, 2018 in West Lafayette (3-1 loss).
• Oakland is meeting Colorado State and LSU for the first time in program history.
• The Golden Grizzlies have never faced a Mountain West Conference opponent.
• The match against the Tigers marks the first SEC school to visit the O'rena.
• Oakland is 1-5 all-time against SEC opponents with its lone win coming at Missouri in 2014 (win 3-1). It also marks the last Power-5 school Oakland defeated.
• Last SEC opponent Oakland faced: No. 13 Kentucky, Dec 5, 2014 at the NCAA Tournament First Round in Lexington (3-0 loss).

NOTES

• The last Power-5 school to play a match in the O'rena was No. 13 Ohio State in 2015 (3-1 loss).
• Colorado State recently dropped out of the top-25 rankings, but is still receiving 21 votes according to the latest AVCA Coaches poll. The Rams began the season ranked 25th in the NCAA.  
• On Aug. 28 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 178-155 (.534) 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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