ROCHESTER, Mich. – Heading into their ninth and tenth matches of Horizon League action, Oakland is set to take on the Vikings of Cleveland State for a home and home series this weekend, starting Thursday, Oct. 22 inside Woodling Gymnasium and the OU Credit Union O'rena on Saturday, Oct. 24. Both matches are available to stream on ESPN+, with Matt Kibby on the call from the Blacktop on Saturday.
Oakland swept its weekend series at Robert Morris, earning a thrilling 3-2 victory Friday before closing out the weekend with a 3-1 win Saturday. The Golden Grizzlies battled back after Robert Morris erased a two-set deficit Friday, responding with 11 kills and just one error in the decisive fifth set to secure the victory. Oakland followed with another strong performance Saturday, using a pair of 25-23 and 25-19 set wins to pull away after splitting the opening two sets. Liv Hosford led the Golden Grizzlies with 35 kills and 33 digs across the two matches, while Molly Reck added 27 kills and 27 digs, and Kalli Cook totaled 47 digs.
Freshman Liv Hosford earned Under Armour #HLVB Player of the Week honors after helping Oakland to a 2-0 weekend at Robert Morris. Hosford averaged 3.89 kills and 4.39 points per set across the two matches, totaling 35 kills, 33 digs, three service aces and two blocks while hitting .213. The Rockford, Michigan leads the team with 3.72 points and 3.28 kills per set as she became the first Oakland freshman to earn the league's Player of the Week award since 2020.
THURSDAY, OCT. 22
TIME: 6 p.m. ET
STREAM: ESPN+
LIVE STATS | TICKETS
SATURDAY, OCT. 24
TIME: 2 p.m. ET
STREAM: ESPN+
LIVE STATS | TICKETS
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State enters its two-match series with Oakland at 3-16 overall and no wins in the Horizon League in 2026. The Vikings have dropped their last three matches, including a pair of losses to Youngstown State last weekend, but pushed the Penguins to five sets in the series opener. Cleveland State has been led offensively by Alyssa Cerovac and Julia Jozefov, who each recorded 10 kills in Saturday's four-set loss, while Vayda Delventhal has been a consistent back row presence, recording six 20-plus-dig performances this season, including a career-high 27 digs against Youngstown State.
The Vikings lead the head-to-head series with the Black and Gold, 11-17, as Oakland has won two out of the last five meetings, including a split in the midweek series last season.
How to Follow Oakland Volleyball: For complete information on Oakland Volleyball, follow the team on X at @OaklandWVB and head coach Krista Rice at @KKg1007. The team is also on Instagram.
