MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Oakland University volleyball program concluded its regular-season road schedule with a three-set loss at Milwaukee (17-25, 19-25, 17-25) on Sunday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.
Despite the loss, the Golden Grizzlies (15-12, 9-7 HL) clinched a trip to the Horizon League Championships, as the league's top-six seeded schools compete in the tournament. Cleveland State fell to UIC in straight-sets earlier today, which dropped the Vikings out of contention for postseason play.
Oakland was down two setters for the third match in a row against the HL first-place Panthers (20-8, 14-2 HL). The Golden Grizzlies led the match with 10 blocks but were bested in service aces (9-to-0), kills (52-to-24), assists (49-to-21), and digs (68-to-58).
Graduate senior
Jamie Walling paced the OU attack with a team-high eight kills. Senior
Jessica Riedl had her second-straight double-double with a team-leading 10 assists and 10 digs, while fifth-year senior
Lindsay Wightman tallied a team-best 19 digs to go along with two assists. Another senior in
Kerra Cornist controlled the net with a match-high five blocks.
The opening set was even at 5-all following a kill by redshirt freshman
Patti Cesarini, but MKE broke away with a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead into a timeout. The Panthers continued to hold the momentum after the break, extending their edge to 14-7. Oakland could not overcome the early deficit, resulting in a 25-17 set loss.
Oakland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the following set, highlighted by a block from redshirt freshman
Anna Nie and Riedl. MKE quickly bounced back by building a 15-11 advantage. The Golden Grizzlies minimized their shortage to 19-18, following a kill by Cesarini, but the Panthers concluded the period on a 6-1 run to clinch their second-straight set win. In total, the second set featured eight ties and three lead changes.
The third set between the two programs was close early on, with the Panthers slightly ahead 12-9. MKE then took five of the next six points to go up 17-10. The finishing result was a match-clinching 25-17 set win for Milwaukee.
Next weekend, OU will close its regular season with home matches against Wright State (Nov. 12) and Northern Kentucky (Nov. 13).
