TOLEDO, Ohio — The Oakland Golden Grizzlies (1-0, 0-0 HL) swept (25-21, 25-19, 25-23) Binghamton (0-2, 0-0 AmEast) on Friday afternoon inside Savage Arena in Toledo. Oakland's efficient hitting resulted in a .301 hitting percentage across the match.
"It was a really great start for our team to win our first match of the year in three sets," said head coach
Krista Rice. "Overall, I think our team was really dominant in-game. There are certainly areas where we need to sharpen up our play so that we're in control. I was really pleased with how we showed up today."
Outside hitter
Molly Reck led Oakland with a career-high 19 kills on 41 attempts, achieving a .366 hitting percentage. Setter
Delaney Stern facilitated the offense with 52 assists, as outside hitter
Liv Hosford added 14 kills with an impressive .423 hitting percentage while also recording 11 digs for a double-double in her collegiate debut. Back from injury last season, middle blocker
Lillian Frias contributed with 10 kills and registered a .333 hitting percentage, supporting Oakland's offense.
The first set commenced with Oakland establishing an early lead, opening with a series of consecutive kills from opposite hitter
Maddie Jipping, Frias, and Reck, all assisted by Stern. This strong opening propelled Oakland to a 4-0 run. Despite the Bearcats' efforts to close the gap, Oakland maintained control, with key contributions from Reck and Hosford extending the lead to 8-4. Binghamton attempted a comeback, narrowing the margin to 13-11, but Oakland responded decisively with another series of kills, including contributions from middle blocker
Ellen Zapp and Jipping, to widen the gap to 22-17. The set concluded as Frias secured the final point, giving Oakland a 25-21 victory in the first set.
Oakland seized momentum early in the second set, overcoming an initial deficit to tie at 3-3 with a service ace by libero
Kalli Cook. This sparked a series of points capped by Reck's kill, establishing a 4-3 lead. Oakland maintained its edge through plays, including Zapp's and Hosford's kills, extending the lead to 11-7. Despite the Bearcats' attempts to close the gap, Oakland's consistent scoring, highlighted by multiple kills from Frias in the middle, kept the pressure on. The set concluded with Oakland securing the win at 25-19, bolstered by a final attacking error by Binghamton to close the set.
Oakland secured a decisive 25-23 win in the third set against the Bearcats, highlighted by a series of plays in the front row. Hosford and Reck played pivotal roles on the sides, with Hosford contributing a kill at 15-14 to regain the lead and Reck sealing the set with a final kill at 25-23 from a Stern assist. Despite several momentum shifts, including a brief tie at 21-21, Oakland maintained their composure and finished strong to conclude the match.
Oakland will be back in Savage Arena to face Bradley on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. for a neutral-site game, before facing host Toledo at 7 p.m. ET. Toledo's match will be streamed 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.
