MILWAUKEE – The Wright State volleyball team was dominant in its first postseason action on Friday night, pushing past No. 6-seeded Oakland in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals in a three-set sweep.
The third-seeded Raiders now move on to face No. 2 Northern Kentucky in the semifinals on Saturday night, with first serve set for 9 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Against Oakland, Wright State (23-7) grabbed control from the start, taking the opening set 25-15 before a quick 25-11 second set and a 25-19 final tally in the third set. The Raiders finished the sweep with a .322 team hitting percentage with just 12 total errors committed as they turned in 50 kills.
Megan Alders led the way with a match-high 13 kills while
Callie Martin tallied her 10th double-double of the year after her 10-kill, 13-dig night.
Nyssa Baker added nine kills and a match-high five blocks while
Sam Ott pitched in eight kills of her own and
Grace Hauck recorded six kills and a pair of blocks.
Lainey Stephenson passed out 37 of Wright State's 48 total assists, while Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year
Jenna Story had a match-high 19 digs as the Raider defense had 64 digs overall in the win.
SET 1
The Raiders jumped out early and never looked back, using early kills from Baker, Martin and Ott for the early lead. A 6-2 run midway through the set behind a pair of kills from both Baker and Ott gave Wright State full control before closing the opening set out with four straight points thanks to two kills each from Alders and Hauck.
SET 2
A 5-0 early run fueled by four Alders kills provided plenty of breathing room, but Wright State added on with a stretch of seven straight points midway through the set to lead 20-8. A late Alders kill pushed the set to the brink before an Oakland attacking error closed the set out.
SET 3
The Raiders took control with six of the first eight points of the set thanks to kills from Baker, Ott and Martin, along with a service ace and kill from Story. A two-point lead at the midway point, Wright State scored the next four points to up the advantage to 20-14 and gain breathing room. After a final push from Oakland pulled the score to 22-19, the Raiders closed the night with three final points, capped by a Stephenson service ace, to move on to the semifinal round.
