TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University
volleyball team beat Texas-Pan American, 3-0, (25-15, 25-15, 25-20)
Wednesday evening in the Cooper Aerobics Center on the ORU
Campus.
ORU won its second straight match to improve to 18-7 on the season,
while UTPA fell to 6-14 overall. The Golden Eagles are now 2-0 in
the all-time series against the Lady Broncs.
The Golden Eagles were led by senior middle blocker JoJo
Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who hit .588 and tallied a match-high
12 kills. Senior outside hitter Janete
Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added a double-double with 10
kills and 12 digs to go along with a .529 hitting percentage, while
senior setter
Thais Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) registered 40
assists.
UTPA was led by Marci Logan's seven kills while Chelsea Blakely
tallied 22 assists and Kellie Phillips added nine digs.
The Golden Eagles hit a season-high .437 for the evening, while
the Lady Broncs hit .119. ORU also recorded 26 more assists
(50-24), 24 more kills (50-26) and 14 more digs (37-23).
ORU took charge early in the first set, starting off with a 7-2
lead as Souza and Ferreira led the Golden Eagles attack. ORU led by
at least five points through the rest of the set as Souza tacked on
the winning kill to capture the first set victory.
After ties at 1,2 and 3 to start off the second set, the Golden
Eagles took a 6-2 run to go up 9-5 as Ferreira led the attack. Two
UTPA attacking errors gave ORU a 13-7 lead while Parada gave the
Golden Eagles the last two points of the set on a kill and a
service ace.
The third set remained close through the first 21 points of the
match, as ORU came back from behind to an 11-10 lead. After an ORU
6-2 run, the Golden Eagles were up 17-13 with help from the Parada
attack. UTPA fought back with a 6-7 run but it was enough to catch
up to the Golden Eagles as Parada gave ORU the set and match point
on a kill.
The Golden Eagles continue league play next weekend, hosting IUPUI
on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. and Centenary on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2
p.m. All home matches are played in the Cooper Aerobics Center on
the ORU campus.
-ORU-
