Oakland City, IN – On Friday night, the Johnson Center hosted another home game for the Mighty Oaks Volleyball team. The Lady Oaks played the Golden Bears of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology. A nerve wrecking five-setter ended up in a win for the home squad.
West Virginia Tech started off strong and won the first set with a score of 23-25. After this the Lady Oaks fought their way back in the match and tied up the score after winning set number two, 25-19 was the score.
The third set was won by the Golden Bears (19-25) so it was do-or-die for the Lady Oaks in set four. The girls of coach
Larry Hinshaw came through and won the fourth set with a solid score of 25-17. With that, the squad from Oakland City forced a fifth set in which the first team to score fifteen points wins. Oakland City started off hot and eventually got a 14-8 lead in the set. However, West Virginia Tech did not give up and came back to a score of 14-14. With the game on the line, the Mighty
Oaks were able to clutch out two points to win the set and the match.
With that the Oaks were able to get their third, hard-fought win this season in River States Conference play. Conference play continued the next morning, as the Oaks played Rio Grande University at home, this game was lost by a score of 3-0.
Offensively,
Laura Betsa (16),
Malia Schmittler (12) and
Jazmyn Rodriquez (10) led the team in kills.
Mariana Anastasiadi (28) and
Callie Foster (21) were also important, leading their squad in assists. On the defensive side, Schmittler (4),
Samantha Johnson (2) and
Desheonna Foster (2) were the blocks leaders.
Dunja Madjarevic (16),
Juliana Sandoval (14) and
Yianmarie Catala (13) were a big part of the defence, leading the Oaks in digs.
Next up for the volleyball squad is another home match. On October 11, at 7:00 PM they take on the Red Wolves of Indiana University East. Later that week there will be two more home events. Friday, October 14, they take on Midway University and the following day Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College travels to Oakland City.
