CLEVELAND — The Oakland University volleyball program fell to Cleveland State (12-25, 24-26, 16-25) on the road for its first Horizon League loss of the 2021 season on Friday evening inside the Woodling Gymnasium.
While OU (9-6, 3-1 HL) bested the Vikings in blocks (8-to-3), Cleveland State (6-9, 4-0 HL) finished the match with more kills (42-to-29), assists (38-to-26), digs (49-to-38), and service aces (9-to-1).
Senior
Jessica Riedl paced the Golden Grizzlies with team-high marks in kills (9) and blocks (5). Redshirt freshman
Patti Cesarini contributed with eight kills at a .269 striking rate, while graduate senior
Jamie Walling tallied six kills, four digs, and three blocks. A pair of junior setters in
AnnaBelle Tomei and
Madison Ross reached double-digit assists with totals of 14 and 10, respectively.
Defensively, fifth-year senior
Lindsay Wightman helped out with a team-best 12 digs. Senior
Kerra Cornist and Ross notched three blocks apiece.
The Vikings surged to a 15-5 advantage in the opening set. OU could not overcome the early deficit, resulting in a 25-12 set loss for the Golden Grizzlies. The CSU attack thrived in the period with a .345 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, the Oakland offense had just five kills compared to four errors.
The Golden Grizzlies went up 2-1 in the following set, but the Vikings responded with a 5-1 run to take a 6-3 lead. Cleveland State held the edge for most of the period, increasing its advantage to 20-14. However, Oakland rallied back with a late 8-2 run to tie the set at 22-all. Despite the late charge, CSU had the final push to earn a 26-24 set victory. Riedl highlighted the set with seven kills on just 10 tries, while Wightman paced the defense with seven digs.
The third set between the two programs was close early on with five ties and three lead changes. OU was in front, 5-4, but the Vikings answered back with a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead. CSU concluded the set with a 25-16 win to clinch its fourth-straight Horizon League victory.
Oakland will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 7, versus Milwaukee. First serve inside the Athletics Center O'rena is set for 5 p.m.
