GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Oakland Golden Grizzlies (5-8, 0-1 HL) fell in a battle in five sets (21-25, 25-22, 27-25, 19-25, 21-23) to Green Bay (8-4, 1-0 HL) on Friday night at the Kress Center. Oakland led 2-1 in the match after taking the second and third sets before the Phoenix pushed a fifth frame and took the deciding set in extra points. Oakland finished with 95 digs and seven service aces, while the Phoenix totaled 72 kills and hit .224 on offense to open Horizon League action.
Middle blocker
Lillian Frias led Oakland with a career-high 16 kills and 18.5 points, adding four total blocks from the front row. Setter
Delaney Stern commanded the offense by recording 50 assists, 19 digs and one service ace. Libero
Kalli Cook also had a career night in the back row; she collected a team-high 28 digs while adding two assists. Outside hitter
Molly Reck finished with 12 kills, four service aces and 13 digs for another double-double.
Reck supplied Oakland's first two kills, but the Phoenix created the early separation by scoring seven straight after Oakland got within 4-2, moving ahead 11-2. Oakland stopped that stretch with a Frias kill and a Reck service ace, then put together another response later in the set. Outside hitter
Liv Hosford and middle blocker
Ellen Zapp combined on a block at 15-6, and Hosford added two kills around a Phoenix attack error as Oakland cut the deficit to 15-9. Zapp and Reck added consecutive Oakland kills in the middle of the set, and Stern later served an ace to make it 23-17. After the Phoenix reached 24-17, Oakland scored four straight on a Hosford kill, a Phoenix error, a Hosford ace, and an opposite hitter
Ella Schomer kill before the Phoenix finished the set 25-21.
Oakland overcame a 7-2 second-set deficit and answered late after the Phoenix tied the score at 22-22, closing the set with the final three points for a 25-22 win. Earlier, Schomer put Oakland on the board with a kill, and a block by Frias and Schomer helped stabilize the set after the Phoenix scored the first three points. Reck added a service ace during a push that included two Frias kills, pulling Oakland within 8-7, and the visitors later tied the set at 13-13 on kills by Reck and Zapp during Hosford's serve. Oakland moved in front 16-15 on a Phoenix attack error, then built a 20-16 advantage with kills from Frias, Hosford and Stern. The Phoenix tied it again at 22-22, but a service error, an attack error, and Reck's kill from Stern finished the set for Oakland.
In the third set, Oakland outlasted the Phoenix, closing a 27-25 win when Hosford and middle blocker
Grace Cooney combined on a block that forced a Kirsten Fish attack error. Earlier, Oakland recovered from a 4-8 deficit with a Hosford kill and two Phoenix attack errors, then pulled even at 14-14 on a Frias kill from Stern. The set stayed tight from there, with Oakland answering repeatedly through Frias, Reck and Schomer before Reck's ace moved Oakland in front 24-23. After the Phoenix tied the set at 25-25, Oakland went back ahead on a Phoenix bad set and finished the frame on the Hosford-Cooney block.
Facing an early 9-4 deficit in the fourth set, Oakland answered with three straight points, using a Phoenix service error, a Phoenix attack error and a Hosford kill from Cook to close within 9-7. Schomer, Frias and Reck added kills as Oakland continued to trade points through the middle of the set, and Reck followed her own kill with a service ace before Hosford finished a Stern set to make it 16-13. The Phoenix pushed back to 22-16, but Oakland kept extending the set with a Schomer kill and later points off Phoenix service errors. The set ended with the Phoenix taking the final point on a Gillian Koning kill for a 25-19 result.
In the fifth set, Oakland turned a 5-4 deficit into a 9-6 lead, using a Frias-Schomer block, kills from Hosford and Frias, a Reck kill and a Frias block to move in front. The Phoenix answered to tie the set at 9-9, but Oakland continued to respond, with Frias and Schomer adding kills and Cooney and Schomer combining on a block as Oakland went ahead 13-11. Schomer later delivered kills that put Oakland up 14-12 and tied the set at 15-15 after the Phoenix moved in front. The teams traded points deep into extra play, and Oakland last led 20-19 before the Phoenix scored four of the final five points to take the set, 23-21.
Head coach
Krista Rice and the Golden Grizzlies are back on the court with Green Bay tomorrow, Sept. 26 inside the Kress Center. First serve is scheduled for 3 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.
