INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – On Saturday, Oakland University Volleyball split the final day of the Top Dawg Challenge in two five-set games with a loss to Eastern Illinois and Head Coach Krista Rice's first victory against Akron.

SET ONE // OAKLAND 25, EIU 22
Oakland would suffer a three-point loss in set one to the Panthers as EIU would gain those cooshy points in the first three rallys before climbing back to close within a point at 18-17 later in the frame before falling 25-22.

SET TWO // OAKLAND 25, EIU 17
The Golden Grizzlies would flip the script in set two as Jessica Riedl and Patti Cesarini would use their arms to lift Oakland above the Panthers in the middle of the set. Oakland would go on a 8-1 streak to close out set two.

SET THREE // OAKLAND 25, EIU 19
Once again, Oakland was called to close out a third set with a streak that featured six-straight points beginning with Riedl and ending with Madison Ross sandwiching a four-point run of Panthers errors.

SET FOUR // OAKLAND 18, EIU 25
At the 21-11 mark deep in the fourth set, Oakland and Libby Gentile along with Cesarini and a slew of EIU errors brough Oakland back within five as the Panthers were forced back on their heels but ended with Eastern Illinois knotting it up two sets apiece.

SET FIVE // OAKLAND 11, EIU 15
With one more frame to play, the Golden Grizzlies needed to claw back once more but a late rally sparked by Gentile fell short.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Oakland dominated the net with 14 blocks to EIU's eight
• Riedl took five blocks while both Cesarini and Ross tallied four and three each
• Cesarini was Oakland's kill leader with 20, peaking that mark for the first time in 2022
• Ross eclipsed the 20-assist mark with 21 to her credit

SET ONE // OAKLAND 25, AKRON 17
The opposite of game one, Oakland struck first on the board behind multiple two-point streaks before Cesarini's service ace would effectively put the Zips away down the stretch as Clarke Adams and Anika Prisby would finish the job.

SET TWO // OAKLAND 19, AKRON 25
Akron would show no mercy in set two, putting strings of rallies together that Oakland would not overcome as attacking errors by the ZIps would give OU hope but ultimately fall in set two 25-19.

SET THREE // OAKLAND 25, AKRON 20
Seven points fueled by five Akron attacking errors would give Oakland the edge it needed in the third frame as Prisby recorded a kill in that stretch, as Cesarini recorded back-to-back kills to retake the lead at 2-1.

SET FOUR // OAKLAND 22, AKRON 25
With the game at 20-19, an attacking error by the Zips would hand Oakland the two-point edge en route to a possible third set victory but Akron would stoke the fire to finish the set with a 6-1 run as the game was forced to the pivotal fifth set.

SET FIVE // OAKLAND 15, AKRON 10
The Zips would jump out to a 4-0 lead early in the final set of play before Oakland would mount four-points of their own before both teams would exchange blows to make both benches clinch their teeth. It was Adams who would have the last word, finishing off the Zips 15-10 to award Coach Rice her first win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Cesarini was named to the All-Tournament Team
• WIth 14 kills to her name, Cesarini was once again the kill leader 
• Gentile and Adams had 11 kills each
• Rachel Rossman earned her paws with a team-high 16 assists in five sets played

"This weekend was a great challenge for our team as we had multiple learning opportunities throughout the tournament," said Rice, "I am happy with our ability to refocus after two tough losses. Our team's grit earned the win versus Akron today and I couldn't be happier. We look forward to building this upcoming week."

The Golden Grizzlies will travel once more to Kent, Ohio for the Kent State Invitational with Southern Indiana, Cornell, and Kent State on September 2-3.