It was a huge win for the women’s volleyball team this past Friday in Wisconsin as they took down the Green Bay Phoenix with a 3-2 win. 

Oakland came in with some aggression, scoring six straight points to get ahead early. Their momentum could not be stopped, causing Green Bay to call a timeout.

Coming back from the timeout, the Phoenix would make their way on up, eventually scoring four points in a row that cut the lead to just two. Madison Ross and Jessica Riedl got huge blocks down the stretch. 

This was a good execution by Oakland. Green Bay tried to answer, but it wasn’t enough. The Golden Grizzlies took set one with a final score of 25-19.

It was a rough start to set two for both teams. There were eight attack errors by Oakland that would give Green Bay a few of their points.

This set consisted of back and forth rallying between the two teams. The score was kept close all throughout.

Middle blocker Anna Nie played her role. Her vision throughout this set was superb — reading the game well and putting it down on the other end, right on cue.

An official review that reversed Patti Cesarini’s point from her attack helped Green Bay out, tying the game at 13-13. At this point in the game, Green Bay put more pressure on Oakland, making them work harder for the win. 

Anticipating hits from Green Bay’s 6-foot-5 middle blocker, Angie Gromos, was libero Emily Wichmann. Her saves were needed in these crucial moments of the game. 

It came down to the wire and Oakland needed some stops, but Green Bay’s opposite hitter would close things out at 25-22, and the Grizzlies lost the set. 

Green Bay came into set three hungrier. Oakland got back on track, going on a 6-1 run, leading by three at a score of 9-6. 

Green Bay then scored three straight points, giving Oakland a run for their money. This was another set of going back and forth. 

Riedl’s attack gave Oakland the set-three win, putting Oakland up 2-1. There was an amazing achievement by Ross as well, who reached 1,000 career assists. 

Green Bay took a page out of Oakland’s book for set four, winning 13-25. This would force a first-to-15 final set.

The fifth set was something to see. Both teams went back at it for the win, but the ball was in the Grizzlies’ court as they dominated and secured the victory.

Great efforts were put forth by Cesarini and Libby Gentile, who each had two kills that put Oakland up 3-2 for the 16-14 win. 

The Grizzlies understood the assignment and did what had to be done. Their next matchup is on Oct. 14 against the IUPUI Jaguars.