ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland University women's volleyball team will host Green Bay for matches on Monday (Feb. 22) and Tuesday (Feb. 23) inside the Athletics Center O'rena. Both matches are set for a 5 p.m. start on ESPN3 with
Neal Ruhl on call.
Live Stats |
ESPN3 (Monday) |
ESPN+ (Tuesday) |
Full Schedule
THOUGHTS FROM COACH BEAM
"This is a critical pair of matches for us as we return home to the O'rena. We surely want to build on our solid Tuesday night performance at Cleveland State and take some of those lessons into the matchup."
"Green Bay is a strong team and has split with its last two opponents. We need to be prepared for a variety of personnel and execute our scouting report as the matches evolve. They are an excellent serving team, as we need to be accurate in our reception and trigger the offense we want to run."
INSIDE THE SERIES
• Green Bay leads 12-9
• At Home: 7-4
• At GB: 2-5
• Neutral Site: 0-3
• First Meeting: 10/25/85, Oakland won, 3-0
• Last Meeting: 11/22/19, Horizon League Quarterfinals, Oakland lost, 3-0
• Series Note: The Golden Grizzlies have lost five out of the last six matches to GB.
NOTES
> Senior middle hitter
Jamie Walling became the ninth player in school history to surpass 1,000 career kills in Oakland's home opener against Wright State (2/8). She has amassed 1,034 kills in her career with the Golden Grizzlies, which is good for eighth in school history. The Normal Ill. native is 20 kills away from surpassing Jessica Dood (1,053 kills) for seventh all-time in career kills.
>
Lindsay Wightman ranks second in the country in digs per set (6.52) and second in the Horizon League in total digs (137). Dating back to last season, she has tallied 10 or more digs in 19-straight matches.
> Wightman ranks fifth in school history in career digs with 1,419. She is 32 digs away from surpassing Brittany Dunn (1,451 digs) for fourth place in the all-time category. Lauren Duquette (2008 alum) is the program leader in career digs with 1,841.
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Patti Cesarini ranks first in the HL and 22nd nationally in attacks per set (12.05). The freshman outside hitter is averaging 3.67 kills per set, which ranks third in the conference. She also holds a top-10 HL mark in points per set (3.81).
> Cesarini leads the Golden Grizzlies in total kills with 77. The La Grange Park, Ill., native sits third in the conference in the category despite playing four fewer matches compared to the two ranked in front of her.
> Oakland is averaging 20.05 digs per set, which is the sixth-highest mark in NCAA Division I. Five players in Wightman,
Haley Brown (2.62),
Katelyn Johnson (2.50), Walling (2.43), and
AnnaBelle Tomei (2.10) currently average more than two digs per set.
>
Kerra Cornist recorded seven block assists in her first action of the season at CSU (2/16). It marked the most blocks by a Golden Grizzly through six matches in 2021. Her strong play helped OU match a season-high in blocks with 8.0.
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Jessica Riedl leads the team with a .273 hitting clip. The junior has hit .375 or better in three of Oakland's six matches. At Robert Morris (1/26), she had seven kills in 11 tries (.636%).
> The Golden Grizzlies are seventh nationally in team attacks per set (41.29). The quartet of Cesarini (253 attacks), Walling (199 attacks), Welch (193 attacks), and Riedl (99 attacks) have combined for 86% of OU's 867 total attacks.
> Walling ranks fifth in the HL in kills per set (3.19). She has notched seven or more kills in all six matches, including a season-high 18 kills versus Wright State (2/8).
> Oakland trails 12-9 in the overall series. The programs met sparingly from 1985-2013, but have faced yearly since OU joined the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies won 3-0 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in 1985, but Green Bay responded by winning the next five meetings. Oakland broke out of the slump by winning seven of the following nine matches. The Phoenix have regained the upper hand with five victories in the last six meetings.
> OU dropped a trio of matches to the Phoenix in 2019. In regular-season play, the Golden Grizzlies fell 3-2 (12-25, 26-24, 12-25, 24-26, 15-12) at home and 3-0 (14-25, 20-25, 15-25) on the road. The two programs proceeded to face-off in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Horizon League Championships, where Green Bay topped Oakland in a three-set decision (18-25, 11-25, 20-25).
> Walling combined for a team-high 31 kills at a .271 hitting clip in three matchups against GB last season. Wightman tallied 67 digs, averaging 6.09 per set as well.
> Oakland is under the direction of 14th-year head coach
Rob Beam, who guided the Golden Grizzlies to an 8-8 mark in conference play and an overall record of 15-14 in 2019. Beam has helped OU finish fourth or higher in the league standings in eight of the last 10 seasons. In 2014, Beam led Oakland to its first-ever berth to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
> The Golden Grizzlies return a pair of 2019 Honorable Mention All-League selections in Walling and Wightman. Walling, a middle hitter, ranked inside the conference top-10 in points per set (third / 3.97), kills per set (fourth / 3.31), and hitting percentage (eighth / .280), while Wightman was second in the conference in digs per set (5.31) and first on the team in total digs (478). Other key returners include Welch, a 2019 All-Freshman team recipient, along with Riedl and Tomei.
> OU welcomed four newcomers — all freshman — in Dolmage,
Anna Nie,
Libby Cleaveland, and Cesarini.
> Oakland was picked fifth in the 2021 Horizon League preseason coaches poll. The Golden Grizzlies tabbed 66 points overall in the poll, which was voted on by the league's 11 head coaches. Defending HL champion Wright State (112) was picked to win the conference and tallied a league-high five first-place votes.
