After coming off a win the night before against Milwaukee, Oakland took out the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Flames 3-2 in a battle of attrition.

The team did not seem affected by the little rest after being on the court no less than 24 hours before. The team was led in scoring by Jamie Walling and Krysteena Davis. Davis had 17 kills and 6 blocks and Walling had 19 kills, one of which was the game-winning score that lead the team and student section into a frenzy, rushing the court.

The student section, who was actually the men’s swim team, put on a show feeding into the team’s energy. Throughout the game, they did a variety of shenanigans like sprinting between bleachers to be on UIC’s side to distract them or stripping down into Speedos in the middle of the game.

The match alternated wins starting with an Oakland win and ending with another. However, the road toward victory was no walk in the park. The first game saw a number of big kills, blocks and digs. The Golden Grizzlies were up 24-19 until the Flames started to close the gap. Oakland called a timeout, came out of that and closed the game 25-21.

The second game saw UIC flip the tables and win 25-21. The third game was even closer with the Black and Gold taking the win by three points. In the fourth game, UIC won by seven and carried that momentum with them into the fifth set.

The game saw a total of seven challenges by each team combined. Head Coach Rob Beam used all four challenges, and UIC used three of their four challenges. No challenge was bigger than the one Beam won in the fifth set. The review was to see if the UIC player had tipped the ball that went out of bounds and after further review, the call was changed in Oakland’s favor, a Walling kill.

“I feel really good,” Walling said on playing back-to-back games in back-to-back days. “We’re playing well and it’s a really good time for us to be playing well… that was the most fun game we’ve played all year.”

Instead of the Golden Grizzlies being down 10-12 they were then tied at 11. This call changed the momentum of the game, Oakland fed on the call and went onto win the set 15-12.

“It’s funny how that’s a three old rule (the challenge rule) and everyone is still trying to get used to,” Beam said. “Our team was really confident (in the call) and I’m going to really go to back them up. Obviously having that play come back with a touch really changed the complexion of game it really gave us a boost.”

Oakland’s next game is on Wednesday, Oct.31 at 6 p.m. against the Wright State Raiders on the road. The team’s last home game of the year is Friday, Nov. 2 against Green Bay. These are the last two matches before Oakland competes in the Horizon League Tournament on Friday, Nov. 16.