GREEN BAY, Wis. — Oakland (5-9, 0-2 HL) lost to Green Bay (9-4, 2-0 HL), 3-2, on Saturday, with set scores of 16-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-18 and 4-15. Oakland dropped the first two sets before taking the third and fourth to force a fifth, but the Phoenix closed the match in a dominant final set. The Golden Grizzlies finished with 98 digs and 58 kills while hitting .176, compared with the Phoenix's .234 hitting chart.
Outside hitter
Molly Reck had a career night on the court, leading Oakland with 23 kills and adding in 13 digs for a double-double. Setter
Delaney Stern also tabbed a double-double, recording 42 assists and 12 digs, while libero
Kalli Cook collected a new career-high 31 digs from the back row. Middle blcoker
Lillian Frias finished with 10 kills, six total blocks ,and 15.0 points.
The Golden Grizzlies spent the first set trying to climb out of an early deficit after the Phoenix scored the first four points and later moved ahead 15-6. Opposite hitter
Ella Schomer put Oakland on the board with a kill from Stern, and Frias added two early kills as the Golden Grizzlies worked to stay connected. Middle blocker
Grace Cooney helped Oakland answer in the middle of the set with a kill and later a block point, while Reck recorded two kills and Stern was involved as a setter and blocker. Oakland scored three of the final four points it won, including Cooney's late kill, before the Phoenix closed the set 25-16.
OU was even at 14-14 in the second set before the Phoenix won three straight points and kept the visitors from getting back level in a 25-19 set. Earlier, Oakland answered a 4-3 deficit with four of the next five points, using two Phoenix attack errors and a Frias kill from Stern to move ahead 7-4. Stern continued to direct the offense through the middle of the set, assisting kills by Cooney, outside hitter
Ella Martin, Reck and Frias as Oakland stayed within one at 13-12. After the Phoenix created separation at 17-14, Frias, Martin and Schomer supplied late kills, including back-to-back Schomer points that cut the score to 20-18, but the Phoenix finished the set by taking five of the final six points.
Oakland created separation in the third set with Schomer serving at 6-4, taking four straight points on a Phoenix bad set, a Phoenix attack error, a Reck kill from Stern and Schomer's ace to move ahead 10-4. Earlier, Oakland opened the set by scoring four of the first five points behind Stern's ace, Schomer's kill from Cook and Cooney's kill from Stern. The Phoenix kept pressure on through the middle of the set, but Reck repeatedly answered with kills, and Frias was involved in blocks that gave Oakland points at 17-12 and 20-15. Oakland closed from 21-16 with kills by Cooney and Martin around a Martin finish set up by Frias, then withstood three Phoenix points before Martin's kill from Stern finished the 25-19 set win.
The Black and Gold broke open the fourth set after an 11-11 tie, scoring five straight points to move ahead 16-11 behind a Schomer kill, back-to-back Reck kills, Schomer's ace and a block by Stern and Frias. Earlier, Oakland answered the Phoenix's early responses with kills from Frias, Reck, Martin and Schomer, and Frias' service turn included a Schomer kill that put Oakland up 8-6. The Phoenix cut into the margin after Oakland led 20-13, but Reck put down kills for Oakland's 21st and 22nd points to keep the visitors in front. Oakland closed the set with help from a Schomer/Frias block before Schomer finished a Stern assist for a 25-18 win.
Oakland was held to four points in the fifth set as the Phoenix opened a 3-0 lead and later built an eight-point advantage. Reck put Oakland on the board with a kill from Stern, then added kills from Cook at 2-9 and 3-10 to account for three of Oakland's points. Frias supplied Oakland's other point with a kill from Stern at 4-12. The Phoenix closed the set with three straight points, finishing the set.
The Golden Grizzlies are back on the Blacktop to host Wright State and Northern Kentucky next weekend at the OU Credit Union O'rena. First serve is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2 at 6 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
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