ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland University volleyball program rallied back to defeat Purdue Fort Wayne (27-25, 22-25, 16-25, 25-13, 15-13) on Tuesday night at the Athletics Center O'rena.
Senior
Kerra Cornist had a monumental day for the Golden Grizzlies (9-5, 3-0 HL), as she totaled a career-high 14 kills with a .435 hitting percentage to go along with a team-leading six blocks. Junior setter
AnnaBelle Tomei was impressive with a team-best 29 assists and 16 digs, good for her fourth double-double.
Other key standouts included redshirt freshman
Patti Cesarini with 14 kills and seven digs, fifth-year senior
Lindsay Wightman with a match-high 26 digs, and redshirt freshman
Kennedy Dolmage with 10 digs and a match-leading three aces.
As a team, the Golden Grizzlies bested Purdue Fort Wayne (2-15, 0-4 HL) in hitting percentage (.162-to-.161) and aces (7-to-4). OU's 85 digs were its third-highest mark of the 2021 campaign.
The opening set between OU and PFW featured 13 ties and eight lead changes. The back-and-forth battle finished in favor of the Golden Grizzlies, 27-25. A balanced attack led to five different OU players with three or more kills in the period. Meanwhile, Tomei got off to a hot start with eight assists and four digs.
The Mastodons answered back by taking the following two sets, 25-22 and 25-16. The Golden Grizzlies were behind for the entirety of both periods.
Down 2-1 in set wins, OU kept its hopes alive with a decisive 25-13 victory in the fourth period. Unlike the previous two sets, Oakland erupted to a 15-8 advantage and never looked back. The Golden Grizzly defense highlighted the set with 6.0 team blocks, including five block assists by Cornist. Cesarini paced the attack with four kills on 11 swings (.273).
In a match-deciding fifth set, OU jumped out to an early 4-2 lead following a kill by Cornist. While the Golden Grizzlies built their lead to 10-6, the 'Dons got within one twice. However, a block by Walling and senior
Jessica Riedl clinched a 15-13 set victory and conference win.
The Golden Grizzlies will continue Horizon League action at Cleveland State on Friday, Oct. 1. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
#GrizzVision with Rob Beam
