VALPARAISO, Ind. - Winning each of the afternoon's final three sets, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 3-1, on Friday, September 1 in the Popcorn Classic.

With this win, Oakland moves back to .500 at 2-2, while the Eagles are still searching for their first victory of 2023 at 0-4.

After Eastern Michigan won the first set 25-21, the Golden Grizzlies took the final three by scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-20.

"This was a great team win from our group to kick off the Popcorn Classic," head coach Krista Rice said.

"Offensively, we started slow, but got into a rhythm as the match went on. Our serving pressure is what won this match for us with Kennedy Dolmage's seven service aces for us. When you have aggressive serves like we did, it eliminates their options offensively, leading to great blocking and defense.

"It was also great to see Emily notch into the top-10 for our program in digs."

As Rice referenced there at the end, junior libero Emily Wichmann made school history on Friday. Registering a team-high 17 digs in the win, she is now up to 822 in her career, moving her into the top-10 on the program's all-time list and just 90 back of Katie Lozier (2001-04) for ninth.

Senior outside hitter Patti Cesarini led Oakland with 18 kills Friday and sophomore Rachel Rossman and graduate student Sarah Turner combined to record 44 assists, tallying 20 and 24, respectively.

In the Popcorn Classic's other two Friday matches, the host Valparaiso Beacons picked up a pair of victories, sweeping the Western Illinois Leathernecks and besting Eastern Michigan, 3-2.

UP NEXT
The Golden Grizzlies will round out this two-day event with a couple of matches Saturday. First, Oakland will battle Western Illinois at 11 a.m., then they will square off with Valparaiso at 6 p.m.

As with every Popcorn Classic contest, both of these tilts will air live on ESPN+ (subscription required).

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