Women's Volleyball 11/9/2008 12:00:00 AM

ORU Sweeps Centenary In Three

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts University volleyball team swept Centenary, 3-0, (25-11, 25-18, 25-12) Sunday afternoon in the Cooper Aerobics Center on the ORU Campus.

ORU won its fourth straight match to improve to 20-7 overall and 12-2 in Summit League action, while Centenary fell to 4-24 overall and 0-14 in conference play. The Golden Eagles also remained undefeated against the Ladies and now hold a 14-0 advantage in the all-time series.

The Golden Eagles were led senior middle blocker JoJo Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who recorded 12 kills and hit a season-high .800, while senior outside hitter Danijela Novakovic (Rijeka, Croatia) added 11 kills and hit .562. Senior setter Thais Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added a match-high 31 assists and senior libero Carol Garbato (Sao Paulo, Brazil) tallied a match-high nine digs. Senior rightside hitter Jackie Oliveira (Minas Gerais, Brazil) made her first appearance in over a month and gave the Golden Eagles two service aces in the third set.

Centenary was led by Christina Golden's six kills, while Jaclyn Lopez added team-highs with 16 assists and eight digs.

The Golden Eagles hit .421 on the day, while the Ladies hit -.011. The Golden Eagles also recorded 20 more assists (37-17), 18 more kills (40-22), 13 more digs (35-22) and seven more blocks (13-6).

ORU quickly took a 6-0 lead in the first set as Garbato served all six of those points and Souza added three kills. A 4-1 run took the Golden Eagles lead up to nine points at 10-1 and a 7-4 run gave ORU a 17-5 lead with Novakovic leading the attack. After two kills from freshman right side hitter Serena Cate (Yorba Linda, Calif.) the Golden Eagles led 21-19 while Parada and Souza finished off the set with a kill and a service ace to give ORU the first set win.

Centenary took the lead first in the second set with a service ace from Lopez, while the set saw ties at 1 and 2 before ORU took a 5-2 run as the Golden Eagles rode the serve of Parada for two points. After three Centenary errors, ORU led 11-6, while Souza and Novakovic kills brought the score to 13-7. CC took a 5-3 run but the Golden Eagles answered with four straight Parada serves to go up 19-13. A Garbato kill and a Centenary attacking error put ORU up 21-13 while Souza and Novakovic led the attack through the rest of the set to give the Golden Eagles the second set victory.

The Golden Eagles quickly took a 6-3 lead in the third set and then rode the serve of Souza for the next six points as four of those points were Centenary errors. After two Novakovic kills ORU led 14-5 while two CC attacking errors put the Golden Eagles up 19-7. A Souza kill and a service ace from Oliviera gave ORU a 21-8 lead. Another Souza kill put ORU up 24-10 and a Novakovic kill gave the Golden Eagles their final set and match point.

ORU continues action next weekend, hosting the Summit League leader North Dakota State on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. NDSU remains undefeated in conference action with a 14-0 record. The Golden Eagles wrap up regular season action on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. hosting UMKC. ORU will recognize its seven seniors on Saturday prior to the NDSU match. All home matches are played 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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#2 Serena Cate

#12 Jackie Oliveira

#14 Thais Parada

Players Mentioned

#2 Serena Cate

#12 Jackie Oliveira

#14 Thais Parada