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Oral Roberts University

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

Women's Volleyball

Golden Eagles Beat Westerwinds In Four

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University volleyball team defeated Western Illinois, 3-1, (25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21) Sunday afternoon in the Cooper Aerobics Center.

ORU won its fifth-straight match and eighth-straight conference match to improve to 16-6 on the season and 9-1 in conference action. WIU fell to 7-17 overall and 3-7 in Summit League action. The Golden Eagles are now 23-5 all-time against the Westerwinds, winning both matches this season.

The Golden Eagles were led by senior outside hitter Danijela Novakovic (Rijeka Croatia) who recorded 14 kills, while junior middle blocker Talita Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) hit a match-high .556 to go along with 11 kills and five block assists. Senior middle blocker JoJo Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) smashed 10 kills, two solo blocks and four block assists, while freshman Serena Cate (Yorba Linda, Calif.) added a career-high seven block assists.

WIU was led by Monique Houston and Megan Toczek who both recorded nine kills, while Sarah Trimpe added 32 assists and Elise Crnjak tallied 13 digs.

The Golden Eagles hit .261 for the evening, while the Westerwinds hit .182. ORU also recorded 19 more kills (60-41), 14 more assists (53-39) and seven more digs (53-46), while WIU recorded two more blocks (24-22).

WIU started the first set on a 3-0 lead before the Golden Eagles clawed their way back to tie up the set at 5-all as Novakovic led the attack and sophomore libero Cassie Holmes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added a service ace. After ties at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, ORU took a 4-0 run with help from Novakovic, Santos and senior outside hitter Janete Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) kills. The Golden Eagles took their lead to five points at 17-12 to force the Westerwinds to take a timeout. Cate, Souza and Santos led the ORU attack through the next seven points and a senior setter Thais Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) service ace gave the Golden Eagles the first set win.

Western Illinois took a 6-1 lead in the second set before ORU fought back to tie up the set at 6-all, as WIU committed two attacking errors in that stretch. After ties at 8, 9 and 13, the Golden Eagles took a 4-0 run on five Souza serves. A Cate kill gave ORU a 20-16 lead, while the Santos serve put the Golden Eagles up 23-17. Cate and Ferreira kills helped ORU earn the second-set victory.

After falling in the third set, 22-25, the Golden Eagles started the fourth set strong with a 2-0 lead before WIU would come back to tie the set at 2-2. After four more ties, ORU would take a 4-1 to go up 14-12. Tied at 15, the Golden Eagles took a 4-0 run as WIU committed two attacking errors. Santos and Ferreira led the ORU attack to put the Golden Eagles up 24-20 and a Souza kill gave ORU the set and match point.

ORU takes off on the for the final time next weekend, traveling to IPFW on Friday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. and then battles at Oakland on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.
-ORU-
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Players Mentioned

Serena Cate

#2 Serena Cate

RS
6' 1"
Redshirt
El Dorado HS
Talita Santos

#1 Talita Santos

MB
6' 1"
Junior
JoJo Souza

#4 JoJo Souza

MB
6' 1"
Senior
UNORP

Players Mentioned

Serena Cate

#2 Serena Cate

6' 1"
Redshirt
El Dorado HS
RS
Talita Santos

#1 Talita Santos

6' 1"
Junior
MB
JoJo Souza

#4 JoJo Souza

6' 1"
Senior
UNORP
MB
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