Oakland University Women’s Volleyball took on three teams over the weekend in the Golden Grizzly Invitational, where they fell 3-1 in both matches on Friday and 3-1 in their match on Saturday, bringing their season record to 0-9.
The Grizzlies took on Southern Illinois in set one. Oakland started the game off strong with two straight kills from sophomore Delany Stern, bringing it to a 2-0 lead. Southern Illinois then pulled ahead with an 11-3 lead before OU’s Ella Schomer and Libby Smith quickly closed the gap with crucial kills and blocks at the net, closing it out 25-23 to win the first set.
The second set started with an exciting back-and-forth fight for the lead, where Southern Illinois took the point and kept the momentum going to 3-0. Despite an incredible performance from OU’s freshman Molly Reck and a push late in the set, Southern Illinois secured the set 25-21.
The third set opened to Oakland, snatching an early lead with a kill from freshman Grace Cooney, but Southern Illinois quickly responded, taking back the lead. Cooney then came back mid-game to give three swift kills back-to-back-to-back, tying the game 17-17.
Despite a late push in the game from the Grizzlies, Southern Illinois pulled away to win the set 25-23.
In the fourth set, Southern Illinois took off quickly with a six-point lead and took advantage of the Grizzlies’ errors, taking the set 25-10.
Later on Friday night, the Grizzlies took on Xavier and jumped to a 16-9 lead in the first set, after getting momentum from an ace by freshman Mya Kattula. Xavier then battled on a 6-1 run to take the momentum and win the set 25-20. The Musketeers carried the momentum into the second set and built an early 8-1 lead, leaving the Grizzlies unable to overcome, taking the set 25-19.
Oakland then clapped back in the third set with heavy kills from Ella Schomer and Libby Smith to take a well-fought 25-19 victory. Despite their fight, Xavier took the fourth set with a 25-19 win.
Despite Oakland’s two losses of the day, Smith led with a career-high 17 kills and 12 digs, and Stern added an incredible 25 assists, taking her past 500 in her career.
The Grizzlies then took on Eastern Michigan on Saturday, where they fought hard in the first set with a late scoring run, with an ace from Smith followed by a swift dump by Stern. Schomer finished the set with 10 kills while Stern gave 25 assists and 11 digs. This combination gave them the 25-22 victory.
Eastern Michigan then bounced back for the second set and took the victory 25-15 due to Oakland errors. The Eagles kept the momentum for the third set and took the win 25-20.
In the fourth set, Oakland stayed composed to extend the set to a 21-15 lead, thanks to kills from Reck, Zapp and Rust. The Eagles still came back strong with a final run to take the set 25-23 to seal their match win.
The Grizzlies showed their strength and determination throughout the weekend but were unable to take a match win out of three opponents.
The Grizzlies will regroup on the road against Bowling Green in a non-conference faceoff on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m.