ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Golden Grizzlies (4-5, 0-0 HL) defeated Eastern Michigan 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-20) on Saturday on the Blacktop at the OU Credit Union O'rena. The Black and Gold hit .347 with 46 kills and 11 attack errors, while the Eagles finished at .156 with 32 kills and 17 errors. The Golden Grizzlies hit better than .320 in each set, including a .364 mark with 17 kills in the third frame.
Middle blocker
Lillian Frias led Oakland with a season-high 11 kills on a .476 hitting percentage and added two blocks, as outside hitter
Liv Hosford eclipsed the 100 career kills with five on the floor today. Setter
Delaney Stern led the offense, recording 33 assists, two service aces, and four kills, as opposite hitter
Ella Schomer finished with 10 kills, hit .364, and added three block assists. Middle blocker
Ellen Zapp added eight kills, seven digs, and four block assists while hitting .400.
Oakland broke open the first set with a 7-0 run, turning a 14-10 lead into a 21-10 advantage behind a Zapp kill and six straight service points from Stern. During Stern's serve, Oakland got two aces from Stern, kills by Hosford and Zapp, and blocks involving Zapp with Hosford and Schomer. EMU cut into the margin late, but Schomer's kill from Stern closed a 25-19 set win for Oakland.
The Golden Grizzlies opened the second set with a seven-point run from 17-15 to 24-15, including six straight points on libero
Kalli Cook's serve. Frias started that push with a kill, and the stretch also included a Hosford block, a Cook ace and a Zapp kill from Stern. Oakland closed the set 25-16.
Oakland erased an early 7-4 deficit in the third set, using defensive specialist
Kiley Gallagher's serve to reach 8-7 before Stern's kill put Oakland ahead 9-8. Oakland later created separation from 19-15 to 23-15 on Zapp's serve, with
Molly Reck contributing two kills and Schomer adding another. Frias finished the frame with a kill from Stern as Oakland took it 25-20.
The Golden Grizzlies are headed to East Lansing to face Michigan State for their final non-conference midweek match on Tuesday, Sept. 15. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. ET on BTN+.
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.
