“Our program always wants that challenge. They accept it and go into it with a really good mindset — being free and loose and not putting a whole lot of pressure on ourselves,” Green said.
The Raiders knocked off host Ohio State and No. 20 Miami (Fla.) in the Sports Imports Classic in Columbus last weekend, handling both by 3-1 scores.
They’re 3-0 against the top conferences this season and 7-5 in regular-season matches in the last six years.
The victory over the Buckeyes was only their second in 11 meetings, the other coming in 1981.
Playing before 2,506 fans at the Covelli Center, do-it-all fifth-year player Sam Ott had 11 kills, 11 digs and a stunning five aces.
She was named Horizon League player of the week Monday.
Mya Aryo, a sophomore transfer from UConn, had 14 kills. Sophomore Lauren Yacobucci, who was Green’s first recruit at Wright State, had 38 of the team’s 50 assists. And Jenny Wessling, a senior all-league pick, had 22 digs.
The Buckeyes (5-3) were picked ninth out of 18 teams in the Big Ten preseason poll, and as Green pointed out: “In a lot of people’s minds, they’re the pinnacle of college athletics in the state of Ohio — and, you could argue, further than that.
“It was just a really cool experience for our team — great atmosphere, great facility to play in.”
The Raiders (7-2) have another chance at a Big East slaying when they play at Butler on Saturday. They also have a match with Ball State on Friday.
“The one area where we hold up with anyone is our passing and ball-control ability. That allows us to stay in matches and compete with a lot of high-quality teams,” Green said.
The Raiders were coming off a crushing performance in their tourney Sept. 6-8, falling to No. 22 Dayton, 3-0, and Bowling Green, 3-1.
“In the Dayton match, I thought we were very competitive. Point for point, we were right there. They just edged us out at the end (of sets),” Green said.
“BG probably left the most sour taste in our mouths. But I reflected back and thought, ‘If that weekend didn’t go the way it did, would last weekend have happened? Probably not.’”
The Raiders are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 for the first time since the 2021 preseason poll.
They have the 36th-most points in the rankings.
“I didn’t really catch it. Our athletic director (Joylynn Brown) came down and alerted me about it. It’s cool,” Green said before quipping, “Whoever the two people who voted for us were, I wanted to thank them.”
Raising their national profile could help if the Raiders need an at-large bid to make the NCAA tourney. That’s what happened in 2019 when they went 28-4 and earned a berth despite losing in the HL tourney semis.
“With coaches, what matters most is RPI and where we’re positioned with that,” said Green, whose team is 79th nationally.
“But honestly, I mentioned to my wife (Sloane) the other day where we were, and said, ‘If we can do this, we’ll be in good position.’ She had to remind me that you can’t get too far ahead of yourself, which is absolutely true.”
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