ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Former Oakland volleyball player Aleksandra Malek will continue her volleyball career with Volley Club Gruissan in southern France.

"I am very happy that I decided to come here to play," said Malek. "The city is beautiful, the club is constantly growing and winning more and more each year and the people have been kind and supportive since the very first day. I could not ask for a better fit in the beginning of my journey of playing volleyball after college."

Malek played two seasons for the Golden Grizzlies in 2017 and 2018, appearing in 203 sets. She racked up 409 kills in her career as an outside hitter and tallied 19 career matches with double-digit kills. Prior to Oakland, the Pszow, Poland native was a standout junior college player at Colby Community College in Kansas, earning All-American, all-region and conference player of the year honors in her two seasons.

"I am extremely proud of Aleks for being our third professional volleyball player during my tenure," said Oakland Volleyball Head Coach Rob Beam. "She showed remarkable toughness last season in playing through injury.  She then did a great job of working her way back to health to reach this point in her career.  Aleks will be an outstanding representative of Oakland Volleyball in France or wherever her career takes her."

Malek is the third Oakland volleyball player in the last three years to join the professional ranks alongside Krysteena Davis (2014-18; Czech Republic) and Jessica Dood (2013-16, Finland).

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