ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland University volleyball program will celebrate Senior Day on Friday, Oct. 29, against Cleveland State inside the Athletics Center O'rena. The match will commence at 6 p.m. and air on ESPN+ with
Neal Ruhl on call.
Volleyball will recognize its nine seniors alongside family following the match. The Golden Grizzly seniors are MyanaCarter,
Kerra Cornist,
Katelyn Johnson,
Sydney Mann,
Abby Neidinger,
Jessica Riedl,
Jamie Walling,
Brittany Welch, and
Lindsay Wightman. Fans are also encouraged to show up early in Halloween costumes for Boo Bash, which will consist of games, contests, and prizes.Â
THE SLATE
Oct. 29 vs. Cleveland State | 6Â p.m. |
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Match Program
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
The Vikings are 8-15 overall and 6-6 in Horizon League action. CSU won its opening four games against conference competition but fell in the standings following a six-match skid. Cleveland State has bounced back with consecutive wins against Youngstown State and Robert Morris. Junior outside hitter Peyton Bloomer has paced the offense with team-leading marks in kills per set (2.64) and total kills (193), while sophomore setter Abby Miller has helped out by averaging 8.17 assists per set. Defensively, sophomore middle hitter Ainslie McLaughlin has totaled a team-high 58 blocks, averaging 0.78 per set.Â
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CSU
OU trails 17-10 in the all-time series. Oakland lost its first seven career matchups against CSU, but broke the skid during the 2012 season with a thrilling five-set victory. The win swung the momentum, as Oakland went 6-2 in the following eight meetings. Cleveland State has regained control over the last five years, going 8-3 in the span. The Golden Grizzlies dropped a three-set decision to the Vikings (10/1) earlier this season. Riedl paced the team with nine kills and five blocks.Â
LAST TIME OUT
OU had home victories over Robert Morris and Youngstown State last weekend. Against the Colonials, Oakland took care of business in straight sets to clinch a season sweep. The Golden Grizzlies hit .314 as a team in the win, their sixth-highest mark of the 2021 campaign. OU fended off YSU in five sets the following day to clinch the weekend sweep. The Penguins were ahead 2-1 in sets, but Oakland grabbed the final two periods to secure the come-from-behind triumph. The Golden Grizzly defense came to play with a season-high 16 blocks, and
Kerra Cornist led the charge with a season-high eight blocks.Â
HL STANDINGS
The Golden Grizzlies are fifth in the Horizon League standings at 8-4. A trio of teams in Wright State, Northern Kentucky, and UIC are tied for second in the HL with an 8-2 record. Milwaukee sits atop of the standings at 12-0 in conference play.Â
STRONG WEEK FOR PATTI
Redshirt freshman
Patti Cesarini totaled 25 kills with a .339 hitting percentage over two matches last weekend. In OU's straight-set victory against RMU, she posted nine kills on just 19 swings and added two digs. The La Grange Park, Ill., native followed the strong performance with a match-leading 16 kills at a .351 striking rate in Oakland's comeback win versus YSU. The 16 kills tied for her third-highest mark in 39 career matches with the Golden Grizzlies.Â
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
Wightman has reached several monumental marks throughout the 2021 campaign. Against Central Michigan (9/17), Wightman totaled 32 digs to surpass Lauren Duquette (2005-08) into the top spot for career digs in program history. The Lake Orion, Mich., native finished with 33 digs in Oakland's straight-set win at YSU (9/24), breaking the previous record mark that she and one other held. In OU's match at IUPUI (10/12), she became the sixth individual in Horizon League history to surpass 2,000 career digs. Last season, Wightman set a single-season school record in digs per set (6.31) and matched a school record for aces in a match (7).
CONFERENCE MARKS
Wightman sits second in the HL and top-15 nationally in total digs (444, 6th) and digs per set (5.22, 13th). Riedl leads the league in total blocks (90) and ranks second in blocks per set (1.05), while Walling possesses the top-10 marks in blocks (76), points (327.5), and kills per set (3.14). As a team, the Golden Grizzlies rank second in total blocks (185.0) and digs per set (15.78).
CHASING HISTORY
Walling sits second in school history with 1,408 career kills. She surpassed Melissa Deatsch (2013-16) earlier this season, who previously ranked second with 1,244 kills. Hall of Honor inductee Meghan Bray (2009-12) leads the category with 1,578 career spikes. On the season, Walling leads the Golden Grizzlies in points (327.5), points per set (3.81), kills (270), and kills per set (3.14), while also holding top-three team marks in digs (177), digs per set (2.06), blocks (76.0), blocks per set (0.88), service aces (17), and aces per set (0.20).
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Tomei ranks first among teammates with four double-doubles. Last season, she led the Golden Grizzlies with seven in the category. Walling is close behind with three double-doubles on the season.Â
LET'S GO STREAKING
Dating back to the 2019 season, Riedl has recorded one or more blocks in 58 straight contests. She has totaled multiple blocks in 22 matches this season, including a career-high seven blocks against YSU (10/27). Â
SHE'S KILLIN' IT
Cesarini ranks second on the team in kills per set (2.65) and total kills (228). In 39 career matches with the Golden Grizzlies, she has reached double-digit kills on 17 occasions, including 10 times this season. In Oakland's five-set victory versus Green Bay (10/10), Cesarini posted a season-high 17 kills on 45 attempts.Â
ROSS CAN DO IT ALL
Junior setter
Madison Ross possesses top-five team marks in hitting percentage (.322, 1st), solo blocks (6, 1st), assists per set (3.77, 2nd), total assists (324, 2nd), block assists (44, 4th), total blocks (50.0, 4th), and blocks per set (0.58, 4th). In OU's straight-set win over Akron (9/11), she finished with a career-high seven blocks to go along with five kills on 13 swings (.385 hitting percentage), 13 assists, and three digs.
ACES FOR DAYS
Freshman
Emily Wichmann leads the team in aces with 18. She has recorded at least one ace in 12 matches, including a career-high three against Bradley (9/3) and Green Bay (10/10).
1K CLUB
Tomei became the eighth Golden Grizzly in program history to reach 1,000 career assists in Oakland's tournament-opening sweep against Penn (9/10). Needing 17 assists to reach the 1,000 assist plateau, she finished with a team-best 20. The setter totaled 548 assists in her debut season with the Golden Grizzlies, followed by 315 assists in her sophomore campaign and 466 assists through 23 matches this season.
IN THIS TOGETHER
The Golden Grizzlies bring back all 17 student-athletes on their roster from a season ago. Senior
Brittany Welch, Walling, Wightman, Cesarini, Ross, Riedl, and Tomei appeared in every set last season.Â
WELCOME TO THE FAM
OU welcomes three newcomers to the program in Wichmann, Adams, and
Kira Buza. The freshman trio arrives in Rochester from Houston, Texas (Adams), Crescent Springs, Ky. (Wichmann), and nearby Shelby Township, Mich. (Buza).
MORE THAN AN ATHLETE
As a team, the Golden Grizzlies have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for six straight years. The award honors volleyball teams with a year-long grade-point average of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale or 4.10 on a 5.0 scale. OU compiled an impressive 3.56 GPA to close out the 2020-21 academic year. Sixteen members of the Golden Grizzly volleyball program earned a GPA above 3.0, highlighted by
Haley Brown and
Katelyn Johnson, who turned in a perfect 4.0 GPA in the spring.
THAT'S OUR COACH
Head coach
Rob Beam is in his 15th season with the Golden Grizzlies. As the longest-tenured volleyball coach in school history, Beam has guided Oakland to nine winning seasons and a berth to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament in 2014. He has accumulated 221 victories, second in school history, reaching the 200-win plateau during the 2019 campaign. Most recently, Beam helped OU to a 7-9 record during the Covid-19 shortened 2021 winter season.
MEET THE STAFF
Amber Hildebrandt enters her first year as an associate coach with the Golden Grizzlies. No stranger to Rochester, Hildebrandt (then Miehlke) competed at OU from 2009-12 and later served as a volunteer assistant under Beam in 2014. In addition to her time at Oakland, she has coached at Appalachian State (2015-16, 2019-21) and Xavier (2016-17). Graduate assistant
Bekah Strange is set to go for her second season with the Black and Gold. As a four-year starter at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Strange totaled 1,812 career digs, good for third place in school history. As a senior, she was named Atlantic 10 Libero of the Year and an AVCA All-East Region selection.
NEXT UP
After Cleveland State, the Golden Grizzlies will travel west for their final three road matches of the regular season, beginning with Green Bay on Nov. 4.Â
