TULSA, Okla. ?€" The Oral Roberts University volleyball
team traveled cross-town on Wednesday night for a meeting with rival Tulsa, and
the Golden Eagles left the Reynolds Center with a hard fought 3-1 (30-28, 30-27,
28-30, 30-28) victory, extending their lead to 55-10 in the teams' all-time
series. o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Golden Eagles (1-3) were lead by Ori
Zuzic's ( microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
w:st="on">Porec, Croatiast1:country-region>) 28-kill, 13-dig performance, her fourth
consecutive double-double. SPAN>Thais Parada (
w:st="on">Sao Paulo, Brazilst1:country-region>) added a double-double of her own, registering
10 kills and a match-high 58 assists.

ORU hit .199 as a team on the night, while limiting
the Golden Hurricane (3-1) to a .165 mark.
The visitors totaled 75 kills to TU's 64 markers, while also holding a 16-7
block lead.

The Golden Eagles took control first in game one, as
a Kim Snow (
w:st="on">DeKalb, Ill.st1:place>) kill gave them an early 9-4 lead.
TU fired right back, however, using an 8-1 spurt to stake a 12-10
advantage. The home squad's lead
stood at 24-21when a Zuzic block sparked an 8-1 ORU that put them ahead
29-25. The Golden Hurricane
managed to fight off game point five times, but a Snow kill finally gave game
one to the Golden Eagles, 30-28.

The beginning of game two featured more tight
action, as five ties and a pair of lead changes left the game knotted at 7-7 early
on. Parada finally gave ORU some
breathing room recording back-to-back kills for a 15-10 lead. The gap would close to a single point at 21-20, but the
Golden Eagles responded with five quick tallies and a 26-20 advantage.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">

TU fought back again, however, fending off game
point four times to pull within 29-27 before a JoJo Souza
(Sao Paulo,
Brazil) kill
gave the visitors a 30-27 victory and 2-0 match lead.

Game three was another tightly contested affair with
the Golden Hurricane eking out a 30-28 win.

Things were neck and neck again throughout game
four, as the two teams combined for 13 ties and five lead changes.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> ORU looked to take the lead for good after
three kills from Zuzic gave them a 21-18 lead, but TU again refused to go away,
pulling even at 25-25. The home
side then scored three of the next four points for a 28-27 advantage.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> But the Golden Eagles rallied again,
getting a pair of kills from Zuzic sandwiched around a TU error to take the game
30-28 and claim a 3-1 match victory.

Snow finished the night with 13 kills and eight blocks,
while Maja Devic (
w:st="on">Split, Croatiast1:country-region>) added 10 kills and seven blocks.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Cris Alves
(Sao Caetano,
Brazil)
recorded 24 digs, making her just the sixth player in ORU history to reach the
1,000-dig plateau.

The Golden Eagles will travel to
w:st="on">Miami,
w:st="on">Fla. this weekend, as they participate in the
2006 Florida International Invitational. SPAN>They will open tourney play against host FIU in a 6:00 p.m. (central)
match on Friday evening.

--ORU--