YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Oakland Golden Grizzlies volleyball team (11-14, 6-7 HL) lost, 3-1, to Youngstown State (12-12, 8-5 HL) on Friday evening at Beeghly Center, with set scores of 14-25, 22-25, 25-20 and 23-25. Oakland dropped the first two sets before taking the third, then came up two points short in the fourth. The Golden Grizzlies finished with 53 kills but hit .145, while YSU hit .206 and held advantages in blocks, digs, and aces.
Outside hitter
Liv Hosford led Oakland with 18.5 points, finishing with 16 kills, four total blocks and six digs as outside hitter
Molly Reck recorded a team-high 17 kills and added eight digs, a solo block and 18 points. Setter
Delaney Stern finished with a team-high 35 assists, 12 digs, and two service aces. Libero
Kalli Cook collected a team-high 15 digs and contributed five assists.
Oakland faced an early deficit in the first set after YSU moved from a 1-1 tie to a 6-1 lead, but the Golden Grizzlies answered with three straight points to get back within 6-4. The response started with a Penguins service error before Cook served Oakland through back-to-back attack errors. Stern, Reck, and middle blocker
Grace Cooney each added kills as Oakland tried to trade sideouts through the middle of the set, and blocks by Reck and the Hosford-middle blocker
Lillian Frias combination helped create points at the net. YSU created separation late, stretching the score to 20-10 before Reck and Hosford supplied kills during Oakland's final push, and the Penguins closed the set 25-14.
Oakland's late push was the central stretch of the second set, as it cut a 19-10 deficit to 23-21 behind kills from Reck, Hosford and middle blocker
Kamsi Iweajunwa, a
Kiley Gallagher ace, an Iweajunwa block and a Stern ace. Earlier, Oakland answered YSU's first two points with Cooney kills set up by Stern, but the Penguins built leads of 8-3 and 13-5. Stern helped Oakland steady the set at 13-6 with a service ace, a block by outsite hitter
Olivia Rust and Cooney, and a Hosford kill, though YSU later stretched the margin to 19-10. Oakland continued to chip away with kills from Reck and Hosford, and Cooney and Hosford combined on a block before Stern's ace made it 23-21. The Penguins answered with two of the final three points, and Oakland dropped the set 25-22.
Oakland erased a 19-17 deficit and closed the third set by winning eight of the final nine points, taking the set 25-20. Earlier, the Golden Grizzlies fell behind 11-6 before getting kills from setter
Mya Kattula, Hosford, opposite hitter
Ella Schomer, Reck and Cooney to stay within reach. After YSU went ahead 18-14, Oakland answered with a 7-1 stretch that included kills by opposite hitter
Caroline Moore, Hosford, Iweajunwa, Schomer and Reck, plus a block by Schomer and Iweajunwa, to move in front 21-19. The Penguins scored once more, but Iweajunwa, Reck, Schomer and Cooney delivered consecutive kills, each set up by Stern, to finish the set.
Oakland answered an early 3-1 deficit by winning five of the next six points, using kills from Reck and Cooney plus a block by Schomer and Cooney to move ahead 6-4. YSU pulled level more than once, but Hosford kept Oakland connected with kills that tied the set at 10-10 and 11-11. Iweajunwa, Reck and Schomer followed with kills as Oakland built a 15-13 lead, and Kattula added a kill before Oakland went up 17-14. The Penguins later scored four straight points after Oakland led 18-17, turning the set to a 21-18 Oakland deficit. Oakland responded from 24-20 down with three consecutive Reck kills to get within 24-23, but YSU won the next point to take the fourth set 25-23.
Wrapping up match two of the series, Oakland will host YSU on the Blacktop tomorrow, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. ET. Ryan Cuddy will have the call from the OU Credit Union O'rena 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.
