ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies volleyball team wraps up its final non-conference tournament of the season as it heads to Athens, Ohio, this weekend for the Green & White Invitational.
 
Oakland is coming off its weekend home opener as it split its pair of matches inside the OU Credit Union O'rena as it fell Friday, 3-0, to Sacramento State but swept Saint Francis the following day. Oakland closed out the Michigan/Oakland Invitational as it headed to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the University of Michigan. Oakland evened the match at one set apiece, but eventually fell in four to the Power-Five team.
 
Graduate student Tyler Linkhart leads the Golden Grizzlies with 94 kills and hits at a .233 percentage, as Gentry Brown is second with 80 kills. Rachel Rossman has dished the most assists with 241 and is tied for second with six aces. On the defensive side, Ainsley Guse outpaces the team with 33.0 blocks as Christina Bohm is in second with 18.0.
 
As a team, the Golden Grizzlies have four more kills than its opponents but hit at a .200 clip compared to its opponents .217. Oakland has accounted for 55.0 blocks as its opponents have totaled 61.5.
 
FRIDAY, SEPT. 20
OPPONENT: Liberty University
TIME: 10:30 a.m. ET
LIVE STATS
LIVESTREAM: YouTube
 
This marks the second time in school history that the Golden Grizzlies will face the Flames as its one and only match came in 2018 in Fort Wayne, Ind. The match went the distance as Oakland went down, 2-0, and came back to force a fifth set. The Golden Grizzlies nearly reverse swept the team Flames but eventually fell, 18-16, in the fifth set.
 
The Flames enter the Green & White Invitational 4-5 overall and have dropped its last two sets, one via sweep and one in five. Liberty is an even 2-2 in neutral site matches as both of its losses have been via a sweep while its pair of wins came from a sweep and a five-set match.
 
Kate Gammer leads the Flames with 100 kills but hits at a .170 clip, as the Flames have totaled 387 total kills with a .219 hitting percentage. Charli Crowson leads the team with 18 aces, while Madison Blane leads the defensive front with 43.0 blocks. As a whole, the team has totaled 76.0 blocks and has tallied 394 digs.
 
 
FRIDAY, SEPT. 20
OPPONENT: Eastern Kentucky University
TIME: 4:30 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
 
Friday's match marks the third matchup between the Golden Grizzlies and the Colonels and its first match since 2012. The history starts in 1999 as the Golden Grizzlies were swept by the Colonels in a neutral site match, but won its previous match in 2012 via sweep inside the Woodling Gymnasium in Cleveland, Ohio.
 
The Colonels enter the invitational on a two-match win streak, as it swept Southeast Missouri before it took Marshall to four Tuesday. The Golden Grizzlies will be the first team Eastern Kentucky faces in the invitational, as the Colonels hold a 7-3 overall record. Oakland will be the third and final Horizon League team Eastern Kentucky will face this season, as it's 1-1 after a sweep against Youngstown State, along with a four-set loss to Green Bay.
 
The Colonels have accounted for 480 kills on the season, good for 13.0 kills per set, with a .206 hitting percentage. Its opponents hit at a .178 clip with 463 kills, as Eastern Kentucky has tallied 65 points off service aces this season. A pair of Colonels have recorded 100+ kills on the season, as Sarah Mitchell leads the team with 127 and AG Vandagriff is behind with 101. On the defensive side, Paide Wagers leads the team with more than half of the teams total blocks (88.0) as she's tallied 54.0.
 
SATURDAY, SEPT. 21
OPPONENT: Ohio University
TIME: 1:00 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM: YouTube
 
The Bobcats enter the tournament with a 3-5 record as it started the season 3-1 but dropped its last four matches. The Bobcats faced fellow Horizon League school Cleveland State in an exhibition match, along with a match against Wright State where the team got swept. This season, the Bobcats have gotten swept twice as Mercer beat Ohio, 3-0, to start its four-match skid.
 
This marks the first time the Golden Grizzlies will have faced the Bobcats but is the third MAC team Oakland will face this season. The Golden Grizzlies are 1-1 against the conference as it opened its season against Buffalo and fell, but swept Eastern Michigan to even it up at one.
 
The Bobcats have 405 total kills on the year as Kam Hunt leads the team with 116 as she hits at a .224 percentage. As a team, the Bobcats hit at a .196 clip and have only tallied 26 aces on the year. Defensively, the team has recorded 67.0 blocks as Emily Waddell has accounted for 32.0 blocks herself.