VALPARAISO, Ind. ?€" The Oral Roberts University volleyball
used a 10-1 run to
close out game five as the Golden Eagles ended
Valparaiso?€™s 25-match home win
streak with a 3-2 victory in Mid-Continent Conference action Friday
night at the
Athletics Recreation Center.
With the win, ORU (13-6, 2-0) extends its own win streak to 10
matches, their
longest streak under the direction of head coach Sheera
Sirola. Valpo
(10-7, 1-1) had not lost at the ARC since falling to Michigan on
September 1,
2004.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 30-24 and 30-26
victories in
games one and two, respectively, but the home squad battled back
with wins in
games three (30-22) and four (30-26) to force a decisive fifth
game.
The Crusaders took control during the early stages of game five,
using a 5-1 spurt
to take a 10-6 lead. ORU quickly changed the momentum, however, as
a
Kim Snow (De Kalb, Ill.) kill sparked a 4-0 run to
tie the game back up
at 10-10.
Valpo went ahead again at 11-10, but the Golden Eagles then forced
a VU error
before taking the lead for good at 12-11 on an Ori
Zuzic (Porec, Croatia)
kill. All told, ORU ended the match by registering 10 of the final
11 tallies;
cumulating with a Zuzic kill to give the visitors the 15-11 game
five win.
The Crusaders out-hit the Golden Eagles .141 to .134 for the match,
but the ORU
defense was at its finest when it mattered, limiting the home squad
to a -.167
attack percentage in game five. Valpo had just three kills compared
to six errors
in the final game.
Zuzic led all players with 27 kills, while adding 11 digs and six
blocks en route to
her 12th double-double of the year. Jackie
Oliveira (Minas Gerais,
Brazil) added 12 kills for ORU and Snow finished the match with 11
markers while
hitting a team-best .320.
Cris Alves (Sao Caetano, Brazil) paced the Golden
Eagle defense with 24
digs and Maja Devic (Split, Croatia) chipped in
with a match-high 11
blocks to go along with eight kills.
The Golden Eagles will look for their 11th straight win on Satuday,
as they visit
Mid-Con foe Oakland in a 6:00 p.m. (central) match.
--ORU--
