TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University
volleyball team swept IUPUI, 3-0, (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) Saturday
evening in the Cooper Aerobics Center on the ORU Campus.
ORU won its third straight match to improve to 19-7 overall and
11-2 in Summit League action, while IUPUI fell to 15-13 overall and
8-6 in conference play. The Golden Eagles are also now 25-3 in the
all-time series against the Jaguars.
The Golden Eagles were led by senior outside hitter Danijela
Novakovic (Rijeka, Croatia) who recorded a double-double with
11 kills and 10 digs. Senior setter Thais
Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added a match-high 38 assists and
senior libero
Carol Garbato (Sao Paulo, Brazil) tallied a
match-high 15 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Jocelyn
Swier (Ripon, Calif.) registered a match-high six blocks (two
solo).
IUPUI was led by Monica Suding's 10 kills, while Danielle Goodnight
tallied 26 assists and Chelsea Bastin added 10 digs.
The Golden Eagles hit .298 on the evening, while the Jaguars hit
.144. ORU out-dug IUPUI, 52-36, while the Golden Eagles also added
13 more blocks (18-5), 12 more assists (44-32) and nine more
assists (45-36).
ORU took a 5-2 lead in the first set as senior outside hitter Janete
Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) led the attack with two kills.
Novakovic and Parada led ORU through the next 10 points to give ORU
a 15-13 lead and the Golden Eagles took a 4-1 run with Swier adding
two kills to put ORU up 19-15. After two IUPUI attacking errors,
ORU led 24-18 and Ferreira gave the Golden Eagles the set point on
a kill.
IUPUI took a 4-1 at the start of the second before ORU fought back
and brought the set within one point at 4-5. The set remained close
through the next 25 points and was tied several times. After 17-all
tie, the Golden Eagles pulled away with two points as IUPUI
committed two attacking errors. Senior middle blocker JoJo
Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) led the attack through the rest of
the set, adding three kills.
The Jaguars took charge again in the third set with a 5-1 lead
before ORU fought back on 6-2 run with help from two Ferreira
service aces. After three Novakovic serves, ORU led 13-9 and then
took a 4-1 run to go up 17-10. A Novakovic kill continued the
Golden Eagles seven point lead at 21-14 and a Novakovic service ace
brought ORU to with a two-point win at 23-16. Two IUPUI attacking
errors gave ORU third set win and match victory.
The Golden Eagles continue action on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.,
hosting Centenary. All home matches are played in the Cooper
Aerobics Center on the ORU Campus.
-ORU-
