TULSA, Okla. - The Oral Roberts
University volleyball team (5-2) swept North Texas (1-5), 3-0, to
place second in the ORU Classic at the Cooper Aerobics Center
Saturday evening. The Golden Eagles won by scores of 25-17, 25-16
and 25-13.
Senior middle
blocker JoJo
Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) earned her second all-tournament
honor this season, while senior outside hitter Danijela
Novakovic (Rijeka, Croatia) picked up her first all-tournament
nod of the year.
ORU was led by
senior setter Thais
Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who registered nine kills and 21
assists as she hit .643 on the night, whil freshman outside hitter
Lauren
Ophus (Tulsa, Okla) picked up seven kills, six digs and a
service ace.
North Texas was led by sophomore outside hitter Roxana
Casvean's five kills and junior setter Marelle Lepmets added 15
assists.
ORU out-killed
(35-23), out-hit (.236-.011) and out-dug (35-32) the Mean Green and
the Golden Eagles recorded 19 blocks on the night as Souza led ORU
with five block assists.
The Golden Eagles
took a 5-2 lead in the first set, as UNT committed four errors but
the Mean Green came back to tie it up at 7-7 on a 5-2 run taking
advantage of three ORU errors. After a freshman rightside hitter Serena
Cate (Yorba Linda, Calif.) service ace, an Ophus kill and two
North Texas attacking errors, ORU was up 11-8. A 6-4 ORU run was
capitalized by an Ophus service ace, while both teams committed two
service errors in the next four points to help give ORU a 19-14
lead. After two Golden Eagle kills by Cate and Ohpus and two
attacking errors by the Mean Green, ORU found itself at 24-17.
Parada recorded the final kill to help the Golden Eagles pick up
the first set victory.
ORU took a 12-6 lead
in the first set with help from four Golden Eagle players including
Parada, Novakovic, Cate and Souza who all recorded at least one
kill in that stretch. After another Parada kill the Golden Eagles
found themselves at 14-9. Two Souza kills and eight North Texas
errors allowed Souza to serve the set point and Novakovic gave ORU
the point on a kill.
The Golden Eagles
continued their domination in the third set as they came out of the
break with three Parada kills, two Souza service aces and both
Novakovic and Cate added kills to help give ORU an 11-1 lead in the
third set. North Texas fought back to cut the lead down to six on a
5-1 run, while the Golden Eagles responded with Ophus and Cate
kills and a Parada service ace to put ORU up 20-10. Ophus tallied
two more kills in the next four points and Parada gave the Golden
Eagles the set and match point with a kill.
ORU returns to
action next weekend in the FIU tournament hosted by Florida
International in Miami, Fla. The Golden Eagles face the University
of Pennsylvania at 4 p.m. (CT) on Friday, Sept. 12 and then battles
Central Florida on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. (CT) ORU concludes
tournament action against host FIU at 6 p.m. (CT) on Saturday,
Sept. 13.
-ORU-
