NORMAN, Okla. ?€" The Oklahoma defense limited ORU to a
.063 attack percentage
and the Golden Eagles totaled just 26 kills as the Sooners claimed
a 3-0 (30-18,
30-20, 30-27) sweep in a battle of in-state rivals at Norman's
McCasland Field
House on Wednesday night. Despite the loss, ORU retains a 27-20
advantage
in the all-time series.
Ori Zuzic (Porec, Croatia) was the lone Golden
Eagle to reach double-
digit kills with 11, while JoJo Souza (Sao Paulo,
Brazil) added six kills,
two blocks and a pair of service aces.
The Sooners (5-2) took control of the match early, using a 9-2
spurt to take a
21-11 lead a little more than midway through game one. ORU (2-6)
failed to get
closer than nine points the rest of the way as OU went on to a
30-18 win. The
Golden Eagles had just six kills compared to seven attack errors in
the first
stanza, hitting a mere -.042 as a team. The Sooners, meanwhile, hit
.323 as a
team in game one, totaling 14 kills with four errors in 31
attempts.
Game two was tight through the early going as a Zuzic kill brought
ORU within
three points at 13-10. The home squad responded with a 7-0 run,
however,
pushing their lead back out to 20-10 en route to their 30-20 win
and two games to
none advantage.
With their backs to the wall in game three, the Golden Eagles
refused to go away
quietly, producing a seesaw affair with 14 ties and five lead
changes. A
Zuzic kill, followed by an OU error, gave ORU a late 25-23 lead,
but the Sooners
fired back with a quick 4-0 spurt to take a 27-25 advantage.
The Golden Eagles tied the game at 27-27 thanks to a Maja
Devic (Split,
Croatia) kill, but their rally would end there as OU tallied the
next three points
with a pair of kills and a block to close the match with a 30-27
game three win.
The home side finished the night with 47 total kills and a .232
attack percentage
while limiting ORU to just 26 markers and an attack percentage of
.063. The
Sooners also totaled 11 service aces and held a 41-35 advantage on
digs.
OU's Joanna Schmitt had a match-high 17 kills to go along with 10
digs and Sarah
Weiland chipped in with six kills while hitting .417 with five
aces.
Cris Alves (Sao Caetano, Brazil) paced the Golden
Eagle defense with a
match-high 12 digs.
ORU will take part in their third tournament in as many weeks when
they head to
Orem, Utah for the LaQuinta Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
They will open
tourney play against future Mid-Con member IPFW at 5:30 p.m. (CDT)
on Friday
afternoon.
--ORU--
