ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland Volleyball team (5-11, 0-4 HL) lost to Northern Kentucky (9-6, 4-0 HL), 3-1, on Saturday afternoon, with set scores of 25-20, 18-25, 12-25 and 16-25. Oakland answered a 7-4 deficit in the opening set by moving ahead 9-8 and took the first set, but NKU won each of the next three. Oakland finished with 51 kills and a .185 hitting percentage, while the Norse hit .356 with 57 kills and a 10-4 blocking edge.
Outside hitter
Molly Reck led Oakland with 17 kills and 20.5 points, adding two aces, seven digs and two blocks, as setter
Delaney Stern finished with 35 assists and 11 digs. Libero
Kalli Cook recorded a team-high 17 digs and added two assists and outside hitter
Liv Hosford added 11 kills and five digs.
Oakland overcame an early 7-3 deficit in the first set, using kills from middle blocker
Lillian Frias, Reck and Hosford plus a Reck service ace to get back even before moving ahead 9-8. After NKU tied it at 10-10, Oakland won the next six points, with opposite hitter
Ella Schomer and Reck supplying kills, Hosford adding another and Schomer and middle blocker
Kamsi Iweajunwa combining on a block during the stretch to 16-10. The Norse cut into the margin at several points, but Oakland answered with kills from Reck, Hosford, Iweajunwa and Schomer to stay in front. Stern put Oakland at set point with a kill, and Frias followed with the finishing kill for a 25-20 first-set win.
Oakland led as late as 15-13 in the second set behind repeated swings from Hosford and Reck, but NKU scored 12 of the final 15 points to take the set 25-18. Earlier, Hosford opened the set with a kill from Stern, Reck added a kill during an early push, and Oakland built a 4-1 lead before later moving ahead 10-7 on another Hosford finish. After the Norse tied it at 10-10, Oakland answered with kills from Hosford, Iweajunwa and back-to-back finishes by Reck to go up 14-11. NKU then used three straight Ivey Stocks kills to tie the set and move in front 17-15, and although Reck, Frias and Hosford added late kills for Oakland, the Norse closed out the set.
Oakland could not keep pace after the third set was tied 2-2, as NKU won the next four points and later moved ahead 11-5 while Oakland's early offense came through Hosford and opponent errors. Outside hitter
Olivia Rust, Hosford and Reck gave Oakland side-out kills through the middle of the set, but the Norse answered repeatedly and built a 20-8 lead. Oakland put together a late response with a Schomer kill, a Hosford kill and a Reck service ace to reach 21-11. Rust added another kill with Oakland facing set point, but NKU closed the set on an Oakland attack error for a 25-12 finish.
Oakland built a 5-0 lead in the fourth set, but NKU erased it and closed with seven straight points to take the set 25-16. Hosford served four straight Oakland points in the opening stretch, which included a Reck block, a Schomer kill from Stern, a Reck-Iweajunwa block and a Reck kill. After the Norse tied the set at 6-6 and later moved in front, Oakland kept answering with kills from Rust, middle blocker
Ellen Zapp, Iweajunwa and Reck to pull even several times through 13-13. Reck continued to supply late offense, including kills that brought Oakland to 18-16, before NKU scored the final seven points to finish the set.
The Black and Gold are back on the Blacktop to host IU Indy next weekend, starting Friday, Oct. 9 at p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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.
