MACOMB, Ill.  -  Cait Egan led Western Illinois' scoring efforts with 13 kills while Ellen Miller contributed 40 assists and 18 digs, but it wasn't enough as the Fighting Leathernecks fell, 3-2, to Oakland, Friday in Brophy Hall.

The Golden Grizzlies (17-7, 10-5 Summit League) won the match with scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 20-25 and 15-7.

“We have a lot of pride in our program and there's a thrill of competing here at home,” Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay said. “We did not play well at Oakland and we knew we were going to play a much better match than last time.”

Oakland rattled off three-straight points and went up by as many as four, 6-2, to open the fifth set. The Leathernecks (9-19, 5-11 Summit League) came within two with an Oakland attack error and service ace by Alli Kirk, but errors on both sides of the net held the Leathernecks down, 9-6.  Back-to-back kills by Meghan Bray gave Oakland the momentum it needed to close out the final set, 15-7.

Oakland out-swung Western in the final set with a .381 attack percentage (10k, 2e, 21ta) compared to Western's negative .095 (1k, 3e, 21ta).

“What set us apart in the fifth, was not doing well late and in the right fashion,” McKay explained. “Going into five can take a lot out of you and we didn't end up the way we wanted.”

The Leathernecks opened the night strong, out-hitting Oakland, .167 to .070. The first set saw 12 ties, with the final tie at 20-20 before Western pulled away with kills from Krissy Bergquist and Egan as a part of five-straight points to the finish.

The Golden Grizzlies answered back taking the following two sets, but working to stay alive in the match, Egan led all players in the kill category of the fourth set with five kills and a .625 hitting percentage. Oakland had its' lowest hitting percentage of the night in the set (.051), while Western had its' best (.212).

Oakland's Bray led all four Grizzlie players in double figures with 16 kills. The Golden Grizzlies put up 13 total team blocks.

Behind Egan's 13 kills, Bergquist had 12 and Allison Gilbert tacked on another 10. Miller's double-double came with 40 assists and 18 digs, but libero Lindsay Muehlbauer led Western in digs with 25.

“Lindsay had the libero jersey on tonight and played out of her mind as our anchor,” McKay said. “She's really what kept us in it.”

The Leathernecks return to Brophy Hall as they host IPFW at 7 p.m., Saturday.