Women's Volleyball 10/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

Golden Eagles Win In Four Over Houston Baptist

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University volleyball team beat Houston Baptist, 3-1, (19-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23) Thursday evening in the Cooper Aerobics Center.

ORU won its third-straight match and improved 14-6 overall. HBU fell to 16-5.

The Golden Eagles were led by senior outside hitter Janete Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who recorded a match-high 15 kills and added eight digs, while freshman rightside hitter Serena Cate (Yorba Linda, Calif.) tacked on 11 kills and hit .400 on the evening. Senior setter Thais Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added 27 assists and nine digs, while senior libero Carol Garbato (Sao Paulo, Brazil) registered nine digs.

HBU was led by Megan Klimitchek's 11 kills, while Natalie Magat tallied 35 assists and Courtney Whittleman added a match-high 15 digs.

The Golden Eagles hit .229 for the evening, while the Huskies hit .137. ORU also recorded seven more kills (50-43), seven more blocks (14-7), six more digs (52-46) and five more assists (46-41).

After losing the first set, the Golden Eagles fought back from a 4-0 deficit in the second set to tie it up at 6-all. The set stayed close through the next 10 points, as it was still tied at 11-11 before ORU took a 4-1 run as Ferreira led the ORU attack. The Golden Eagles took their lead up by seven at 20-13 with help from five HBU attacking errors and a Parada service ace. Cate and Ferreira led the attack through the next five points and Cate gave ORU the second set victory on a kill.

After 12 ties to begin the third set, ORU took a 4-0 run, as senior middle blocker JoJo Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) led the Golden Eagles attack and serve in that stretch to put ORU up 18-14. A junior middle blocker Talita Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) kill gave ORU a 20-17 lead and two HBU attacking errors put the Golden Eagles up 22-17. Santos and Ferreira led the attack through the rest of the set as Ferreira put ORU's last two points on board with two kills.

The third set started off with points teams trading point for point through the first 20 points. At 10-all, ORU put three straight points on board off two Huskie errors and a Ferreira kill. The Golden Eagles continued a slight lead through the next 10 points, as HBU came back to up the match 23-all. Senior outside hitter Danijela Novakovic (Rijeka, Croatia) added a kill and then came with a block assist with Santos for the Golden Eagles to put the set and the match away.

ORU resumes conference action next week, hosting South Dakota State on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. and then faces Western Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. Both matches will be held in the Cooper Aerobics Center on the ORU campus.

-ORU-

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Players Mentioned

#2 Serena Cate: RS; 6' 1"; Redshirt; El Dorado HS

#5 Danijela Novakovic: OH; 6' 3"; Senior; Ekonomska Skola

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

#1 Talita Santos: MB; 6' 1"; Junior

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

Players Mentioned

#2 Serena Cate
: 6' 1"; Redshirt; El Dorado HS
: RS

#5 Danijela Novakovic
: 6' 3"; Senior; Ekonomska Skola
: OH

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

#1 Talita Santos
: 6' 1"; Junior
: MB

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