ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies women's volleyball team continues its season on the road as it makes the trek to Ypsilanti, Mich., to take on a trio of teams at the Eastern Michigan University Tournament.
The Golden Grizzlies enter the tournament after it concluded the Buffalo Invite last week 1-2. The team fell in its first two games, as it fell to 2023 NCAA Tournament team and host University at Buffalo, followed by a five-set match loss against Army. The Golden Grizzlies battled back and swept Hampton University to end the tournament on a high note. Notably, newcomer
Tyler Linkhart was named to the Buffalo Invite All-Tournament Team after the grad transfer put down 37 kills and five aces during the tournament.
Right behind Linkhart is
Gentry Brown who added 33 kills on the weekend, as
Rachel Rossman led the way with 114 assists and
Emily Wichmann led the defensive side with 51 digs. As a team, the Golden Grizzlies hit at a .250 mark with 154 kills on the year and have totaled 22 aces so far this season.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 6
OPPONENT: George Washington University
TIME: 11 a.m. ET
LIVE STATS
The Golden Grizzlies play George Washington for the second time in school history as Oakland won its sole match against George Washington back in 2015. Inside Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., Oakland and George Washington battled to a five-set match as the Golden Grizzlies eventually came out on to take tha match.
George Washington enters the tournament 2-1 after it won its first two matches, 3-0, against UC Riverside and Howard at the DC Challenge. George Washington is coming off a loss, however, as it fell in its final game of the challenge against American University. George Washington is led by Salem Yohannes whose tallied 37 kills on the year as the team has tallied 136 kills with a .259 hitting percentage as George Washington has tallied 25 aces and blocks.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 6
OPPONENT: Marshall University
TIME: 4:00 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS
The Golden Grizzlies face Marshall for the first time in program history The Herd enter the tournament 2-1 after the Davidson Tournament it participated in last week. The team opened up the year with a sweep against ETSU but then were swept by Davidson but followed it up with a sweep against Elon.
The Herd hit at a .209 rate as it has 111 kills on the year as McKenna Melton holds the team lead with 28. Marshall only has eight aces on the year as its opponents have tallied 20 as Beatrice Ciccarelli has half with four.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 7
OPPONENT: Eastern Michigan University
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
Oakland closes out the tournament with host Eastern Michigan for the teams 27th matchup in program history. The Golden Grizzlies currently ride a four-match win streak against the Eagles but hold an overall record of 7-19 against the Eagles. On the road, the Golden Grizzlies have only won a pair of games with nine losses as its last win in Ypsilanti came in 2009.
Eastern Michigan sits at 2-2 on the season as it went 2-1 at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind., with one of its wins coming against Horizon League team IU Indy. The Eagles enter the tournament coming off a loss as the University of Michigan swept Eastern Michigan Wednesday.
The Eagles have totaled 162 kills on the season and hit at a .215 clip as its opponents hit at a .198 clip. Kaili Doctor leads the team with 36 kills as a total of three Eagles have 30+ kills on the year. Ava Siefke, from the service line, has 10 aces to go along with the teams total of 22.
