ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland University volleyball program shifts its focus to the 2021 Horizon League Championship in Milwaukee. The No. 6 seed Golden Grizzlies will open their tournament run on Friday, Nov. 19, against No. 3 seed Wright State at 5 p.m. ET. The winner of Friday's match will face No. 1 seed and tournament host Milwaukee the following day.Â
All tournament matches will air on ESPN+.
Click here to view the Horizon League Championship bracket. Â
THE SLATE
Nov. 19 vs. Wright State | 5 p.m. ET |
Watch |
Live Stats
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Grizzlies clinched a berth to the Horizon League Championship for the seventh time since joining the conference in 2013. Oakland is 3-5 all-time in the Horizon League Championship, winning the 2014 tournament and making its first-ever NCAA appearance. Oakland's last tournament appearance came against No. 3 seed Green Bay in 2019. The Phoenix won in straight sets.Â
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Defending HL champion Wright State finished the regular season 22-7 overall and 14-3 in conference play. The Raiders are in the midst of a six-game match streak, which included a win over Oakland in the last weekend of the regular season. Senior libero Jenna Story leads the country in total digs (629) and ranks second nationally in digs per set (5.72). Senior setter Lainey Stephenson sits 10th nationally in total assists with 1,092. As a team, the Raiders top the nation in digs (2,182) and total attacks (4,433, while also ranking second nationally in digs per set (19.48).
Â
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WSU
The overall series is tied 14 wins apiece. The Golden Grizzlies have lost seven straight to the Raiders but won the previous 13 matches. The 13-match win streak spanned from August 2011 to October 2018. Oakland fell to WSU twice in the regular season.Â
A COLLEGIATE FIRST
Senior
Jessica Riedl had 13 kills, 12 assists, and 10 digs against Northern Kentucky (11/12) last weekend, becoming the first middle hitter in the country to record a triple-double. To add, she was the first Golden Grizzly since Jordan Lentz in 2018 to achieve the feat.Â
LAST TIME OUT
Oakland is coming off a four-set loss to Northern Kentucky (11/13) last Saturday. OU won the opening set but dropped the following three. Junior
Haley Brown tallied a career-high three aces, while Riedl had an all-around performance with a team-high 14 assists, eight digs, and three blocks.
SENIOR DAY MADNESS
The Golden Grizzlies celebrated Senior Day with a thrilling five-set victory over Cleveland State (10/29). Wightman totaled a season-high 37 digs and six assists, and two aces. Her 37 digs were good for the fourth-highest mark in school history and the 16th-most by an individual in a five-set Division I match this season. Walling broke a school record in career sets played, as she reached her 477th career set in the third period, which elevated her to the top spot in program history.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 (573, 8th) and digs per set (5.36, 12th). Riedl holds top-four conference marks in triple doubles (1), blocks per set (0.95), and total blocks (103). As a team, the Golden Grizzlies rank second in digs per set (16.0) and third in blocks per set (2.16), team digs (1,728), and total blocks (233).
CHASING HISTORY
Walling sits second in school history with 1,447 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 (377.5), points per set (3.50), kills (309), and kills per set (2.86), while also holding top-three team marks in digs (198), blocks (97.0), solo blocks (6), block assists (91), and blocks per set (0.90).Â
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Tomei ranks first among teammates with five double-doubles. Last season, she led the Golden Grizzlies with seven in the category. Rield is close behind with four double-doubles, while Walling sits third on the team with three.Â
BLOCK MACHINE
Dating back to the 2019 season, Riedl has recorded one or more blocks in 63 of her last 64 contests. She has totaled multiple blocks in 25 matches this season, including a career-high seven blocks against YSU (10/27). Her career average of 0.85 blocks per set is the ninth-highest mark in program history.Â
SHE'S KILLIN' IT
Cesarini ranks second on the team in kills per set (2.58) and total kills (279). In 45 career matches with the Golden Grizzlies, she has reached double-digit kills on 20 occasions, including 13 times this season. Cesarini has totaled a career-high 17 kills against Green Bay (10/10) and Wright State (11/12) this season.Â
ACES FOR DAYS
Freshman
Emily Wichmann leads the team in aces with 25. The newcomer has posted multiple aces in five matches and has combined for seven aces in her last six appearances.
ROSS CAN DO IT ALL
Junior setter
Madison Ross possesses top-five team marks in hitting percentage (.333, 1st), solo blocks (6, T-2nd), assists per set (3.74, 2nd), total assists (340, 2nd), block assists (46, 4th), total blocks (52.0, 4th), and blocks per set (0.57, 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. Ross has finished with five-plus kills, double-digit assists, and multiple blocks in six matches.
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 489 assists in 24 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 222 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.
