Oakland Edges Out NDSU in a Close One

The Bison volleyball team put up a fight Friday against Oakland at the Benson Bunker Fieldhouse. It was a tightly contested match and each set went down to the wire. Throughout the game, Oakland made the plays they needed to in order to get the 3-1 win.

In the first match, NDSU got out to an early start. They led the Golden Grizzlies 10-5 before Oakland called a time out. Before the timeout, all six of the Bison’s players on the court each had a dig, making it an effective team defensive effort. After the timeout, both teams exchanged kills and different errors before Oakland got to within three. However, the lead wasn’t smaller after that in the first game. NDSU held off Oakland to get a 25-21 win in the first set.

In the second match, it was the Golden Grizzles’ turn to get to a 10-5 lead. The Bison got back and went on a 10-5 run to tie the score up at 15. The set became tied three times before the end, making it extremely closely contested. Senior outside hitter Brynn Joki gave the Bison a huge push to keep within reach. Joki ended the night with 10 kills and a team high 20 digs. In the end, Oakland came up with a few big plays, and that gave them the second set with the score being 25-21.

NDSU and Oakland were even more evenly matched in the third set. Both teams took turns with controlling the game, but neither had a lead larger than six points. After the ensuing Bison timeout with the score being 15-19 in favor of the Golden Grizzlies, NDSU got it back to within one point from tying the game. The Bison’s offense was on a roll and was led by freshman outside hitter Jenni Fassbender, who ended the night with a team and career high 15 kills, and senior middle hitter Megan Lambertson, who contributed 13 kills. Oakland used one of their timeouts, helping stop the Bison’s momentum. Oakland went on a 6-0 streak out of the timeout, which finished things out at 25-19 with Oakland on top.

The fourth set was similar to the previous three. Oakland and NDSU were making big plays to stay within reach of each other. After the game was tied at 14 all, Joki was hurt and was forced to come out of the game. Despite the injury, she went back in a few plays later, which was a huge boost for NDSU. Nonetheless, the Golden Grizzlies took control and made the last few influential plays to close things out. The final score of the fourth and final set was 25-19.

This loss gives the Bison a 10-15 record overall and a league record of 6-7. This currently sits them at sixth place within the Summit League. NDSU’s next games will be on the road at Kansas City on Friday and at South Dakota on Saturday.