CHICAGO — Junior setter AnnaBelle Tomei became the eighth Golden Grizzly in program history to reach 1,000 career assists as the Oakland volleyball program swept the University of Pennsylvania (25-23, 25-18, 25-13) on Friday evening at the DePaul Invitational. 

The Golden Grizzlies (3-3) hit .430 with 45 kills and just eight errors. The hitting percentage tied for the third-highest mark in school history. Senior Jessica Riedl led the way with a match-leading 13 kills on 19 swings (.632) and added five blocks. Another senior in Brittany Welch totaled 11 kills with a .348 hitting percentage. The trio of redshirt freshman Patti Cesarini, junior Madison Ross, and senior Kerra Cornist tallied four-plus kills with a hitting percentage above .300. 

Tomei helped out the offense with a team-best 20 assists. She came into the match needing 17 to reach the 1,000 assist plateau. Ross finished second on the team with 10 assists. 

OU controlled the Penn (3-2) attack with a season-high 11 blocks. Ross, Riedl, and Cornist finished with five blocks apiece, while fifth-year senior Jamie Walling had two of her own. Fifth-year senior Lindsay Wightman also impressed defensively with a match-best 13 digs. 

Oakland faced an early 8-4 deficit in the opening set but managed to tie the period at 16-all following an attack error by the Quakers. Later in the set, Oakland took advantage of two more Penn Errors to garner a 23-21 advantage. Kills by Riedl and Welch clinched a 25-23 set victory for the Golden Grizzlies. OU hit an astounding .536 in the first set, highlighted by Riedl with a set-high six kills on just seven swings (.857). 

In the following set, the Golden Grizzlies raced out to a 10-6 advantage and led for the rest of the way, closing the period with a 25-18 set victory. OU finished with a .375 hitting percentage and four team blocks in the set. Cornist alone was responsible for one solo block and two blocks assists, while Welch made her mark with four kills on nine tries (.444). 

OU secured its third-straight win and second-straight sweep by taking the third set in dominant fashion, 25-13. Once again, the Golden Grizzlies dazzled in several areas, as they totaled 13 kills with a .385 hitting percentage, five team blocks, and four aces in the set. Walling stood out in the serve with three aces. Defensively, Ross and Welch totaled three blocks apiece. 

The Golden Grizzlies will return to action tomorrow with matchups against Akron at 3 p.m. ET and tournament host DePaul at 8 p.m. ET.