Musketeers Drop Season Opener Against Oklahoma

Friday, August 24

DeKalb, Ill.

4 p.m.

Xavier University

0-1

Oklahoma

1-0

Xavier

Oklahoma

Musketeers Drop Season Opener Against Oklahoma

08.24.18 | Volleyball

Box Score Season Stats (PDF)Box Score (PDF)

Laura Grossman led Xavier with 13 kills

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

DEKALB, Ill. - Xavier volleyball dropped it season opener on Friday afternoon, falling to Oklahoma in three sets (25-22, 26-24, 25-20) at the NIU Invitational.

Xavier (0-1) continues tournament action on Saturday against the host Huskies at 2 p.m. ET. Northern Illinois takes on DePaul in its season opener at 7 p.m. on Friday night.

NOTABLES

• Senior Laura Grossman led the Musketeers with 13 kills in 25 attempts with zero errors, finishing the match with a .520 hitting percentage. The outside hitter added six digs and two aces.

• Senior Morgan Finn added seven kills and sophomore Moriah Hopkins chipped in five. Freshman Jayda Carlton led the team in blocks (4) in her Musketeer debut, while adding two kills.

• Defensively, senior Meredith Klare posted a match-high 17 digs. Sophomore Nadia Dieudonne added a team-high 16 assists to go along with eight digs.

SET ONE

• Xavier trailed by as many as six (12-18) before using an 8-3 run to take a 20-19 advantage. The remainder of the set had three ties and two lead changes before the Sooners pulled away with the 25-22 victory.

• Senior Laura Grossman had five kills, three digs and a .556 hitting percentage in the frame, while classmate Meredith Klare had six digs.

SET TWO

• The second set had four lead changes and 12 ties with neither team leading by more than three points. The two teams were knotted at 24 before the Sooners took advantage of back-to-back Musketeer errors to win the set.

• Seniors Laura Grossman and Morgan Finn combined to post nine kills in the frame, while classmate Meredith Klare had nine digs.

SET THREE

• The final set had five ties and three lead changes. Oklahoma posted its best hitting percentage (.406) in the third set to pull away for the 25-20 victory.

UP NEXT

• Xavier wraps up NIU Invitational action on Saturday, Aug. 25 against the host Huskies. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. ET.