Sporting blitz week of Sept. 3
Cross Country
Aug. 29: Oakland’s Andrew Bowman won the men’s 6K title with a 18:40.0 time at the 14th annual Golden Grizzly Open. In the women’s 4K, OU’s Ashley Burr finished second with a time of 14:40.2. Eight women’s Golden Grizzly runners placed in the top 11 to claim the women’s team title. OU cross country next event is Sept. 6 at the UDM Invite at the University of Detroit.
Women’s Golf
Oakland women’s golf opens the season Sept. 7-8 against Illinois State at the Redbird Invitational in Normal, Ill.
Men’s Soccer
Aug. 29: The OU men’s soccer team dropped their season opener to No. 15 Penn State 1-0 at Jeffery Field. Oakland goalkeeper Elliot Tarney made eight saves and forward Gerald Ben had two shots on goal. The Nittany Lions outshot the Golden Grizzlies 20-9.
Women’s Soccer
Aug. 28: The Golden Grizzlies blanked Saginaw Valley State 4-0 at the OU Soccer Field in Margaret Saurin’s first victory as OU’s head coach. Freshman goalkeeper Alison Holland pitched her first career shutout.
Aug. 31: Oakland fell to Illinois in a 1-0 home overtime thriller in which Holland faced 29 shots and made 10 saves.
Volleyball
Aug. 29-30: OU volleyball left the season-opening Western Michigan Tournament with a 2-2 record. The Golden Grizzlies defeated Louisiana Tech 3-0 then fell to Western Michigan 3-2 the first day of tournament.
The next day, Oakland lost to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne 3-1 before rebounding with a 3-1 over Saint Francis University. OU middle hitter Amanda Baker earned all-tournament team honors and finished with 11 kills and a .435 attack percentage in the victory. Golden Grizzly setter Ciara Schultz posted a double-double with 37 points and 13 digs. Outside hitter Taylor Humm had a game-high 18 digs.
Oakland volleyball plays next at the Missouri tournament Sept. 5-6 against the likes of Illinois State, Xavier, Lipscomb and Missouri.