TULSA,
Okla.?€" The Oral Roberts University volleyball team never trailed in their home-opener Friday night, claiming a three-game sweep (30-19, 30-18, 30-22) over Arkansas-Little Rock in the opening match of the 2006 ORU Volleyball Classic.

ORU (6-6) has now won four straight matches after claiming top honors at last weekend's LaQuinta Invitational.

Maja Devic (Split, Croatia) led three Golden Eagles in double-figure kills as she hit a match-high .667 with 14 kills and no errors in 21 attempts. The senior also added four service aces, five digs, and four blocks. Ori Zuzic (Porec, Croatia) chipped in with a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs, while hitting .379.

The Golden Eagles took control early in game one, using a 7-2 spurt to jump ahead with a 12-5 advantage. UALR (6-8) would later close the gap to four points at 20-16, but consecutive kills by Kim Snow (DeKalb,
Ill.), Zuzic, and Devic pushed their lead back to 23-16. The ORU advantage would then grow to 11 points twice in the game's final stages, including the final tally of 30-19.

The Golden Eagles hit a staggering .448 in game one, recording 14 kills with a single error in 29 attacks. Their defense was just as effective, holding the Trojans to a .071 attack percentage.

Game two was much of the same, as ORU scored first en route to a quick 12-4 lead. The visitors responded with a push that pulled to within five points, but a Trojan error, followed by a pair of Devic aces, extended the Golden Eagle cushion back to 22-14. They never looked back from there, taking game two, 30-18.

UALR refused to go away in game three, fighting the home squad point-for-point and trailed by just two, 18-16, more than halfway through the game. A Thais Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) kill finally got things going, igniting an 8-2 run that gave ORU some breathing room at 26-18. The Trojans claimed the next two points to cut the lead to 26-20, but the Golden Eagles got a pair of kills from Danijela Novakovic down the stretch as they held on to the 30-22 victory and match sweep.

ORU out-hit their opponents .389 to .127, while also holding advantages in kills (53-30), digs (51-46), blocks (7-4) and service aces (11-4).

Snow finished the night with 10 kills and a .562 attack percentage, while Parada added 39 assists to go along with five kills, eight digs and three aces.

The Golden Eagles will be back in action twice tomorrow, beginning with a 12:30 p.m. match against St. Francis (NY). They will then close out Friday's classic competition at 7:30 p.m. when they face Texas-Arlington.

--ORU--