TOLEDO, Ohio - Fighting their way back to win the final two sets, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies moved back to .500 on the season with a 3-2 victory over the Toledo Rockets at Savage Arena on Tuesday, September 12.

Oakland is now 5-5 in 2023 and 3-0 against Mid-American Conference (MAC) schools, while the Rockets fall to 2-7.

The Golden Grizzlies took the first set, 25-23, before Toledo claimed the next two, both of which ended in 25-22 scores.

Oakland evened the match back up with a 25-20 fourth-set victory, setting up the winner-take-all fifth and final set. 

With the back and forth extending well beyond the 15 points needed to claim the set due to the two teams being separated by just a lone tally, the Golden Grizzlies were able to seal the deal at 22-20 with a kill by redshirt junior Libby Gentile off the feed from graduate student Sarah Turner.

Senior Patti Cesarini registered a club-high 17 kills for Oakland with Gentile right behind her at 15, while junior libero Emily Wichmann had 26 digs, her fourth match with 25-plus already this year, and Turner finished with 32 assists.

GRIZZVISION WITH HEAD COACH KRISTA RICE

#GrizzVision with head coach Krista Rice following our road victory over Toledo

🐻😊 pic.twitter.com/bu2HzMR8Su

— Oakland Volleyball (@OaklandWVB) September 13, 2023

UP NEXT
Their fourth tournament of the campaign, the Golden Grizzlies will head to Carbondale to compete in the Saluki Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois on Friday and Saturday, September 15 and 16.

Oakland will battle the UT Martin Skyhawks at 2 p.m. on Friday and the hometown Salukis at 12 p.m. on Saturday.

FOLLOW OAKLAND
Student-athletes, parents, and fans can follow Oakland Volleyball on social media using @OaklandWVB on Twitter and Instagram. The Gold Standard Name, Image, and Likeness Marketplace is available to bridge NIL opportunities for student-athletes and can be found here via Opendorse.