Raiders open Horizon League Championship Friday afternoon against Oakland

Friday, November 19

Milwaukee, WI

5:00 PM

Wright State University

Oakland (Quarterfinal)

Photo by: Joseph Craven

Raiders open Horizon League Championship Friday afternoon against Oakland

11/18/2021 3:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Watch on ESPN+Follow Live Stats

DAYTON - The Wright State volleyball team begins postseason play on Friday afternoon, as the No. 3 seeded Raiders will face off against No. 6 seeded Oakland at 5 p.m. ET from Milwaukee. Wright State closed the regular season on a six-match winning streak, while Oakland has lost its last five matches.

No. 4 UIC and No. 5 Green Bay will square off in the other quarterfinal matchup on Friday. Top-seeded and host Milwaukee will play the lowest-remaining seed on Saturday and No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky will face the highest-remaining seed from Friday's quarterfinals.

Fans can follow the action via live stats for both matches and watch on ESPN+ throughout the entirety of the championship.

OAKLAND MATCH: LIVE STATS | WATCH ON ESPN+

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State won a pair of matches on the road last weekend, taking down Oakland and Cleveland State in four sets. Nyssa Baker led the way Friday Nyssa Baker with a match-high 19 kills, while Sam Ott added 14 kills of her own. Callie Martin turned in a double-double effort with 12 kills and 16 digs. On Saturday, Megan Alders and Baker paced the Wright State attack with 14 kills each, while Ott was the third Raider with double-digit kills as she finished with 11 of her own. Baker, Taylor Bransfield and Callie Martin each recorded four blocks at the net, while Martin added a match-high 21 digs.

DEFENDING THE TITLE
Wright State enters the Horizon League Championship looking to defend its tournament title from the spring and book its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship. The Raiders are the No. 3 seed in this year's HL tournament after being the top seed the last two seasons. This is Wright State's fourth straight trip to the Horizon League Championship overall, starting the run as the No. 6 seed in 2018, when the Raiders had their first above .500 season since 2003.

KNOW THE FOES
Oakland finished the regular season 15-14 overall with a 9-9 mark in Horizon League play to date, but dropped its last five matches, including to Wright State on the final weekend of the regular season. Lidsay Wightman sits second in the HL and top-15 nationally in total digs (573, 8th) and digs per set (5.36, 12th). Jessica Riedl holds top-four conference marks in triple doubles (1), blocks per set (0.95), and total blocks (103). As a team, the Golden Grizzlies rank second in digs per set (16.0) and third in blocks per set (2.16), team digs (1,728), and total blocks (233).

THREE-PEAT
Jenna Story earned third consecutive Defensive Player of the Year honor with the announcement of the Horizon League awards on Nov. 18, and was also named a Horizon League first team performer for the third straight year, becomes only the second player in Horizon League history to have earned three Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Valparaiso's Taylor Root (2010-2012). In addition, the Story becomes the 28th player in League history to be a three-time first team selection. Entering postseason play, Story leads the nation with 629 total digs, while her 5.72 digs per set average is second nationally. She has had 29 consecutive double-digit dig performances while anchoring a Wright State defense holding opponents to a .155 hitting percentage, a mark that ranks 15th in the country.

AWARDS SEASON
In addition to Jenna Story, Wright State saw three players earn Horizon League second team honors: Nyssa Baker, Callie Martin and Lainey Stephenson. Baker leads the Horizon League with 119 total blocks and with the accompanying 1.08 blocks per set average, with her 119 blocks currently sitting at No. 33 nationally. Martin turned in nine double-doubles this season, including 21 matches with double digit digs, while she has 255 kills and a 2.30 kills per set average. Stephenson has passed out 1,092 assists entering the postseason, the 12th-most in the country, while setting up a Raider offense that is No. 12 in the nation with 1,485 total kills.