Two difficult matches went against Oral Roberts University on Friday night as they fell to Sam Houston State, 3-2, and Houston, 3-1, at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup. With the losses, ORU drops back to 5-5 overall.

THE BASICS
Scores: Sam Houston State 3, Oral Roberts 2 (13-25, 25-23, 20-25, 27-25, 16-14); Houston 3, Oral Roberts 1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-23)
Records: Oral Roberts - 5-5, Sam Houston State - 6-2, Houston - 5-2
Location: Athletics/Alumni Center - Houston Texas

THE LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Sara Pope paced the Golden Eagles over the two matches with 25 total kills, and she had a double-double in each match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- ORU hit .211 against Sam Houston and held to Bearkats to a .165 clip. In the second match, ORU outhit Houston, .193 to .191. It's the first two times this season ORU has lost when out-hitting their opponents.
- Pope had two double-doubles in one day for the first time in her ORU career
- Lucija Bojanjac also had a double-double in both matches
- Jovana Poljasevic set a career high with 14 kills in the Houston match, bettering her previous high by five kills.
- Pope matched a career high with 14 digs against the Cougars
- Both losses came after ORU lost the 1st set; previously the Golden Eagles were undefeated in 2014 when taking aa 1-0 lead.

NEWS AND NOTES
- ORU is now 5-7 all-time against Sam Houston State and 1-6 against Houston
- ORU has fallen in the opener of each of their three pre-conference tournaments so far this season
- The Golden Eagles are 1-1 against former Southland Conference opponents this season
- ORU fell to 19-12 all-time in the city of Houston

SAM HOUSTON STATE 3, ORAL ROBERTS 2

TURNING POINT
ORU held a 13-12 lead in the decisive 5th set before Sam Houston scored four of the final five points, including two Shelby Genung kills.

MATCH LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Laura Milos has 13 kills, while Bojanjac dealt 46 assists and collected a season-best 15 digs. Shelby Cox blocked eight balls (one solo), her best effort of the season so far.
Sam Houston State: Genung tallied 17 kills and hit .400 on the afternoon, while 2012 Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year Deveney Wells-Gibson added 13 kills and 12 digs.

1ST SET - ORU, 25-13
An 11-1 run with Maggie DiPronio serving midway through the set put the Golden Eagles firmly in control and gave ORU a 21-10 lead. Pope and Poljasevic combined for a block on set point to hand ORU an early lead.

2ND SET - SAM HOUSTON STATE, 25-23
ORU took an 11-6 lead on a combined block from Cox and McKenna Qualls, but the Bearkats were able to respond. SHSU came all the way back to tie the set at 20-all as Wells-Gibson took part in a block, and she smacked a service aces on set point to tie the match at a set apiece.

3RD SET - ORU, 25-20
The 3rd set was extremely tight before ORU wore the Bearkats down and scored the final three points. Poljasevic turned the tide with a kill to make the score 23-20, and Nika Mostahinic had a kill at set point to lead ORU to the win.

4TH SET - SAM HOUSTON STATE, 27-25
ORU held a 23-21 lead after a Mostahinic kill and looked poised for the victory before Sam Houston rallied. The Bearkats scored three straight to send the Golden Eagles reeling, and they finally converted a set point on an ORU error at 27-25.

5TH SET - SAM HOUSTON STATE, 16-14
A topsy-turvy 5th set saw the Bearkats up, 12-9, before ORU surged ahead with a rally of three straight points., including consecutive Pope kills. But SHSU scored four of the final five points and took the victory in a closely-contested match.

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HOUSTON 3, ORAL ROBERTS 1

TURNING POINT
Up 1-0, the Golden Eagles were overwhelmed in the 2nd set. Houston took a 14-3 lead, won the set, and never looked back in a four-set win.

MATCH LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Pope tallied 15 kills and 14 digs, while Poljasevic added 14 kills to go with three blocks. Bojanjac dug 12 balls and dished 43 assists.
Houston: Courtney Warren led all players with 16 kills.

1ST SET - ORU, 25-19
ORU built a 10-5 lead on a Pope kill, and they led throughout. Poljasevic had the kill on ORU's second set point to give Sheera Sirola's team an early lead.

2ND SET - HOUSTON, 25-18
The Cougars scored the first three points and 14 of the first 17. The Golden Eagles clawed back to 21-17 as Bojanjac and Poljasevic combined for a block, but a service error slowed the rally. Hunter Wise smashed a kill on set point for a Houston win.

3RD SET - HOUSTON, 25-21
The home team again scored the first three points and never trailed. Wise was again there at the end to provide the clinching kill for the Cougars.

4TH SET - HOUSTON, 25-23
Consecutive kills from Pope and Poljasevic gave ORU a 12-10 lead, and it eventually grew to 15-12. But Houston drew even at 16-all on a Bryanna Lawrence kill, and they never trailed again. Warren notched kills on the final two points of the match as Houston completed their comeback win.

UP NEXT
ORU finishes their tour of Houston at 9 am on Saturday morning against undefeated Louisiana.