The first week of school saw multiple soccer and volleyball games take place away from campus. The Golden Grizzlies traveled across Michigan and the United States in out-of-conference match-ups.

Volleyball

The volleyball team had three matches this weekend, playing in the Bradley Invitational in Illinois. In their first match, they played DePaul. Jamie Walling led the way for the Golden Grizzlies with 24 kills, and adding eight digs as well. Taylor Dellinger added in 20 kills as well, as Oakland won in four sets. Lindsay Wightman led the team in digs with 19, and Madison Ross was effective offensively, dishing out 28 assists, a team high.

After dropping their second match of the day against Bradley, the team faced off against Belmont on Saturday, winning 3-2 in dramatic fashion. Belmont took the first two sets, and was poised to sweep, but Oakland fought back in the next three sets and took the game after a 15-10 fifth set victory. Ross once again was effective on offense, recording 32 assists. This time, Brittany Welch led the team in kills with 18. After the victory versus Belmont, the volleyball team improved to 4-2 on the season.

Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer team traveled to Toledo to face off against the Rockets in their first game of September. It was a high scoring match, but all seven goals of the 3-4 final were scored in the second half. After a scoreless first, the floodgates opened and both teams were finding the net at ease. After going down 3-1, the Golden Grizzlies fought back to tie the game in the 71st minute with an Alexa Sabbagh goal. The Rockets were able to come away with the victory however, scoring the go-ahead goal in the 88th minute.

Sami Lopez and Taylor Thalheimer also added goals in the 62nd and 66th minute. Sabbagh led the team with five shots, three on goal. This loss marked the second of the season, but the first since the season opener on Aug. 14. Their next game is on Sept. 14 against the Western Michigan Broncos in Kalamazoo, and their next home game is Sept. 15 against Michigan State.

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer team played two road games over the weekend of Sept. 6. The first was against Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. The Golden Grizzlies opened up scoring in the 5th minute, after Evan Sawula scored on a deflection. After Western Illinois was able to even up the game in the 31st minute, Noah Jensen responded six minutes later with what would prove to be the game-winning goal on a free kick.

This victory was the second for the team, after they lost 1-0 to Duquesne University.

Two days later, the Golden Grizzlies would travel to Illinois to face off against Bradley University. After a scoreless first half, Bradley scored back-to-back goals in a six minute span. The Golden Grizzlies answered, however, with two unanswered goals of their own in the 59th and 69th minutes. Both teams were able to hold tight defensively for the rest of the game, even lasting through two overtime periods. This match ended after the second overtime with a 2-2 draw. The next match for the men’s soccer team is their conference opener against Cleveland State. It is also their home opener, taking place on Saturday, Sept. 14.