Women's Volleyball 9/25/2007 12:00:00 AM

ORU Falls in Three to Missouri State

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Oral Roberts volleyball team (7-7, 2-0 Summit League) dropped a three-game match to the Missouri State Bears (14-2, 4-0 Missouri Valley Conference) despite hard-fought efforts by junior Jackie Oliveira and JoJo Souza. ORU lost by scores of 26-30, 27-30, 27-30.

For the 11th time this season, Jackie Oliveira led the Golden Eagles in kills with 21 on the night. The Minas Gerais, Brazil native also tacked on 13 digs to register her 10th double-double of the season, sixth-straight. JoJo Souza finished with 14 kills and two blocks on the night, while junior setter Thais Parada tallied a season-high 41 assists for the Golden Eagles.

The Bears took an early 3-1 lead in game one, but ORU would fight back with the help of Jackie Oliveira and JoJo Souza kills to tie the game 3-3 and would take the lead with a Carol Garbato service ace. The Bears would tie the game at 8-all after blocking errors by ORU, but a Thais Parada would kill would give the lead right back to the Golden Eagles and force Missouri State to take a timeout. The teams would trade points with ORU holding a three-point advantage, their largest lead of the game, until MSU came charging back to tie the game 20-20. A Janete Ferreira ace would give ORU the 22-21 lead before Missouri State would score three-straight points to take the 22-24 lead and would hold that lead to take game one, 26-30.

Game two would begin as game one did with MSU taking 3-1 lead before ORU would score two-straight points to tie the game at 3-3 off a JoJo Souza kill. Missouri State would regain the lead and hold tight with the help of tough serving by Katelyn Panzau before ORU would take a timeout at the 7-11 mark. The Golden Eagles would battle for every point with the help of Carol Garbato's scrappiness and would climb to as close as two before ORU would burn their second timeout. ORU would come out and score three-straight points, which would be followed by a Bears timeout. Jocelyn Swier would come out and record a solo block, followed by a MSU error to put the Golden Eagles down by one. Missouri State would burn their second timeout immediately and ORU would come right back out and tie the game, 21-21. Missouri State would not let up though, scoring six points to take a 27-25 lead before ORU's JoJo Souza would lay down a kill to bring the Golden Eagles to within two. MSU seemed to keep finding the holes and would win game two off of a Sara Stabauch kill, 30-27.

The teams would battle back and forth early in game three, but serving errors would plague the Golden Eagles would take the lead, but let it fall to a ball served out. Missouri State would also find the same troubles from behind the line, which would tie both teams up at 7-all. A Shayla Patrick would give the Bears the 8-7 advantage, but JoJo Souza would turn around and lay down a kill to tie the game back up. Jackie Oliveira would get major air to slam down a kill to tie the match at 15-15, before the Bears would fight back to take three-straight points and force ORU to take a timeout. Missouri State would take control the remainder of the game despite a hard-fought effort by the Golden Eagles, winning game three 30-27.

The Golden Eagles will resume conference play this weekend as they host IPFW on Friday, Sept. 28 and IUPUI on Saturday, Sept. 29. Both matches will be held at the Cooper Aerobics Center and will start at 7 p.m. Live statistics and live streaming will be available through the ORU athletics website, www.orugoldeneagles.com.

-ORU-

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Players Mentioned

#9 Janete Ferreira: OH; 6' 0"; Junior

#10 Carol Garbato: L; 5' 7"; Junior; E.E. Padre Antao

#12 Jackie Oliveira: RS; 6' 3"; Junior; UNORP

#14 Thais Parada: S; 5' 8"; Junior; Mackenzie

#4 JoJo Souza: MB; 6' 1"; Junior; UNORP

#7 Jocelyn Swier: MB; 6' 0"; Redshirt; Ripon HS

Players Mentioned

#9 Janete Ferreira
: 6' 0"; Junior
: OH

#10 Carol Garbato
: 5' 7"; Junior; E.E. Padre Antao
: L

#12 Jackie Oliveira
: 6' 3"; Junior; UNORP
: RS

#14 Thais Parada
: 5' 8"; Junior; Mackenzie
: S

#4 JoJo Souza
: 6' 1"; Junior; UNORP
: MB

#7 Jocelyn Swier
: 6' 0"; Redshirt; Ripon HS
: MB