The Basics
Oral Roberts (10-5, 4-2 SL) at St. Thomas (2-15, 1-6 SL)
Date/Time: Thursday, October 14, 2021 / 7 p.m.
Location: Schoenecker Arena / St. Paul, Minn.
Live Video | Live Stats

Oral Roberts (10-5, 4-2 SL) at Western Illinois (3-15, 2-5 SL)
Date/Time: Saturday, October 16, 2021 / 6 p.m.
Location: Western Hall / Macomb, Ill.
Live Video | Live Stats

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts volleyball team closes a four-match road swing facing St. Thomas for the first time in program history Oct. 14 before heading to Western Illinois Oct. 16.
Both matches will be available with a free, live video stream courtesy of the host institution.

OPENING SERVE
•ORU won at least five matches to begin a campaign for the fifth time in program history and the first since 1996 claiming victories in six straight and then started 4-0 in league action for the first time since 2017. It also tallied road sweeps against both North Dakota and North Dakota State for the first time in ORU history.
 
•The Golden Eagles' balance on offense has been a staple in 2021 as four players have at least 100 kills and five are averaging two kills per set. Trinity Freeman has the team lead putting away 139 kills, while Sakira LaCour (137), Kaia Dunford (129) and Jaxie Wakley (108) all have hit the century mark in total kills. The team has combined to register a hitting percentage of .240 that is third in the league and 66th in the country thanks to LaCour's team-high .352 effort.
 
•LaCour has dominated at the net all year and was recently recognized for that work as the TicketSmarter Summit League Defensive Player of the Week Oct. 5. The junior leads the conference and is 44th nationally averaging 1.3 blocks per set, while Wakley and Freeman have aided the blocking effort totaling 48 and 41 blocks, respectively. As a team, ORU has tallied 124.5 total blocks and 2.3 per set.
 
•Bryanne Soares leads the team with 484 set assists at 9.1 per set, which ranks fifth in the league. The sophomore also has tallied seven double-doubles in her last eight outings, including four straight. ORU is currently second in The Summit League averaging 12.3 assists per set, which ranks 55th in the nation.
 
•Libero Sarah Thiessen was named TicketSmarter Summit League Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career Aug. 31 and less than a week later became the 12th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs. The redshirt senior currently ranks third in the league averaging 4.5 digs per set reaching double digits in all but one match this year, including a season-high 29 at Tulsa Sept. 11. Thiessen moved past Ori Zuzic (2003-06) for seventh in career digs in ORU history at Kansas City Oct. 9 totaling 1,189.
 
•St. Thomas has been swept in each of its last four appearances following a win home over North Dakota Sept. 30 as it continues its first season as a NCAA Division I program. Lauren Galvin is the highest-scoring freshman in the league as she paces the Tommies with 3.2 kills per set and joins ORU's Freeman as the only two conference newcomers to lead a team in total kills. UST has four players posting more than two digs per set behind Carrie Rutledge's 3.0.
 
•Western Illinois dropped both matches in a road trip to South Dakota last week after winning back-to-back contests against UND and UST. The offensive duo of Mariah Mitchell (165 kills) and Aubrey Putman (134 kills) pace the Fighting Leathernecks, while Gabby DePersio averages 3.5 digs per set defensively.
 
•ORU was picked to finish sixth in The Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll for the 2021 season in the 10-team league.
 
•The Golden Eagles returned all seven starters and 10 letterwinners from its 2020 squad accounting for 96 percent of kills and 100 percent of their assists and service aces. On the defensive side, ORU welcomed back 99 percent of its total digs and blocks from a year ago.
 
•Head Coach Frank Craig III is back for his second season and welcomed three freshman to the program. Trinity Freeman (Phoenix, Arizona), Breanna Rivas (Albuquerque New Mexico) and Saje Washington (Dublin, Ohio) began their collegiate careers at ORU this fall.
 
•The top six regular-season finishers qualify for The Summit League Volleyball Championship slated for Nov. 25-27 inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, S.D.
 
For the latest information on ORU Volleyball, follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play Store.