TULSA – It only took ORU three quick games to
get past UMKC (5-22, 2-9 Summit League) to keep their conference
home winning streak of seven alive, defeating the Kangaroos 30-16,
30-22, 30-27.
The Golden Eagles (14-10, 9-2 Summit League)
were led by juniors Jackie Oliveira and Danijela
Novakovic, each who posted double-digit kills in the win.
Oliveira collected her 16th double-double of the season
with 13 kills and 13 digs, while Novakovic finished the match with
10 kills, three digs and one solo block.
Junior Thais
Parada also snagged a double-double in the win, tallying 34
assists and 15 digs for the Golden Eagles. Freshman Jocelyn
Swier had a great night, registering nine kills of off 13
attempts for an outstanding .538 hitting percentage on the night,
her best of the season. Swier also tied her career-best in solo
blocks with two.
The Golden Eagles held the Kangaroos best
hitter, Sarah Johnson, to only eight kills off of 22 attempts on
the night.
Game one was all ORU, jumping out to a 5-0
lead with the help of great serving by Thais
Parada. They would extend their lead to 10 after scoring
five-straight points to give them a 19-9 advantage. From there, ORU
would roll on to take game one, 30-16.
Both teams would battle for the lead in game
two with ORU eventually scoring four-straight points to give them
the 8-4 advantage with the help of two kills by Janete
Ferreira and one by JoJo Souza. But UMKC would fight right back
come to within one of ORU at the 21-20 mark, but freshman Jocelyn
Swier would take the wind from their sails and lay down a kill
to give the Golden Eagles the two-point lead and the momentum to
finish the game, winning 30-22.
ORU would take the early lead in game three,
but the ‘Roos would not go down easily, tying the game at
12-12 only to follow with a Kelly Gettinger kill to give them the
lead. The Golden Eagles would take a timeout to try and slow down
their opponent, but UMKC came right back out and went on a 4-1 run
to take the 18-13 lead. With the help of four ORU kills and two
UMKC errors, the Golden Eagles would tie the game 19-19, followed
by a Juliane Vieira kill to give ORU the lead, 20-19.
Points were swapped back and forth until ORU took the 26-25 lead,
which they would hold, winning game three 30-27.
Next up for ORU is Western Illinois at 6 p.m.
on Saturday evening, Oct. 27 at the Cooper Aerobics
Center.
-ORU-
