The women’s volleyball team fell to the Chicago State Cougars in three sets on Friday, Sept. 8 at the end of the Golden Grizzlies Invitational.
The Cougars struck first, scoring six of the first eight points that gave them an early 6-2 lead. Oakland made a rally with a four-point run, but the Cougars would claw again with a five-of-six run to put the score at 11-6.
The Grizzlies didn’t get too much going on after and were behind by four or more throughout the remainder of the set, and the Cougars maintained staying on top and took set one.
The Grizzlies cleaned up their game plan and surged ahead to a 3-1 advantage to start the second set just before the Cougars would reclaim the lead at 4-3. The set eventually was tied all up at nine, and major kills fueled Chicago State’s scoring run, resulting in a 14-10 Chicago State lead.
Oakland refused to let up as they were shy of only two points before the Cougars would then again break away, concluding at a 25-19 score.
The third set was the tightest of them all and the most intense. The Grizzlies initially started off being tied up with points until Oakland’s service attack errors shifted the score to 15-7. After an 11-4 Grizzly run, both teams found themselves at a 21-21 score until the Cougars would complete the third set.
Despite the loss, the Grizzlies had some strong performances by a lot of players. Patti Cesarini had six kills and led the team in digs with 11. Sophomore Ella Martin also had six kills, and both Rachel Rossman and Sarah Turner set their teammates up well, with 26 assists together.
Head coach Krista Rice has a plan on how to bounce back and stay resilient.
“I mean, we talk with our group all the time about a moment of maybe non-ideal play or the result that we want,” head coach Krista Rice said. “We just have to get back to work, and that’s part of what we talked about in the locker room.
“We, I think, rightfully, should be frustrated with the result today as we just, not only did Chicago State win, I just feel like we didn’t play to our best ability that we are capable of, but it just comes down to getting back to work on Monday. We just have to get back to work, that’s just what it really comes down to,” Rice said.
The Golden Grizzlies will look to do exactly that and head to Toledo, with renewed determination to bounce back.
