Wright State faced defeat yet again against Oakland Friday night at the C.J. McLin Gym losing in straight sets, 25-13, 25-19, and 25-20 and continuing its losing streak that has now reached eight matches.
The Raiders had a slow start in the first set, falling behind 9-5, while the Golden Grizzlies took off with an 8-0 run eventually making it 22-11. The two teams equaled out in the second set, which presented nine ties, until Oakland ended WSU’s hopes of coming back after an 18-18 timeout, finishing the set 25-19.
The third set had the Raiders on their heels, but they found a way to keep pace with Oakland leading 15-13 until Oakland went on a finishing run to end the final set 25-20.
“We hung around and came back each set, I felt like we got better after each one,” head coach Susan Clements said. “They (Oakland) have a lot of veteran players and play at a quick pace; they hurt us with good serving.”
With the inexperience of the Raiders roster, Clements said building team chemistry and continuing to learn from mistakes will be the key to the team's success.
“The most important thing is to continue growing as a team and keep battling,” Clements said. “It takes time and with new players we need to focus on learning and being more intense.”
Senior Ellen Senf led the Raiders with an attacking percentage of .375 and had eight kills, while freshman Stephanie Ruffing had nine kills and led the team with nine digs.
Now 0-5 in conference play, the Raiders overall record falls to 6-16.
WSU will look to snap their losing streak when it hosts Eastern Kentucky tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
