The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 2 – Denver 3
Records: ORU (17-10, 11-7 SL) – DU (24-4, 15-3 SL)
Box Score
Location: Hamilton Gymnasium (Denver, Colo.)
 
DENVER, Colo. – The Oral Roberts volleyball team took two of the first three sets, but could not hold off Denver falling in five sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 19-25, 10-15) from Hamilton Gymnasium in the regular season finale Saturday.
 
Bryanne Soares served up a 3-0 run to start the match as Kaia Dunford and Sakira LaCour delivered kills. The Golden Eagles pushed to a 9-6 edge as Soares combined with Jaxie Wakley on a block and the margin moved to four behind a Pioneers attack error. Consecutive errors by the home side helped ORU regain a 13-9 cushion, but Denver tallied four-straight points to even the set. The Golden Eagles looked to build momentum and held an 18-15 lead before the Pioneers answered back and erased the deficit for a 20-19 advantage of their own. Denver moved ahead, 24-21, and Trinity Freeman and Soares came through with kills to force the Pioneers into a timeout, but could not rally all the way back falling 25-23.
 
After Denver took a 4-2 lead in the second set, ORU recovered and scored eight of the next 10 points highlighted by back-to-back blocks from LaCour, Dunford and Soares. The Golden Eagles were able to keep the Pioneers at arm's length as the lead remained 15-10 and stretched out to 21-14 when Freeman and LaCour blocked another Denver attack. ORU secured the set win, 25-20, on the sixth attack error of the frame from the Pioneers, while hitting .483 on its own putting away 15 kills to just one error.
 
A Sarah Thiessen service ace helped the Golden Eagles to a 6-2 advantage in the third stanza and the visitors never allowed Denver to get back into the set. Freeman delivered a solo block as the margin for ORU moved to 14-9 and the blocking dominance continued as Wakley and Soares joined for blocks on consecutive points for a 19-13 edge. Naturally it was an Aixa Vigil and Wakley stuff at the net that gave the Golden Eagles a 2-1 set lead winning the frame, 25-17.
 
The Pioneers built a 9-5 advantage to open the fourth frame using a 4-0 run and added a 5-0 burst to lead 14-7. Trailing 20-11, the Golden Eagles found some room and scored three-straight points until the home team ended the set, 25-19. Denver jumped to a 3-1 lead in the decisive fifth set and used a quick, 3-0 burst for an 8-4 edge. The Pioneers stretched to a 12-8 lead until Freeman added a kill and LaCour and Soares followed with a block to pull within two before Denver closed the match, 15-10.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Vigil led the balanced offense for ORU tallying 10 kills, while Freeman and Dunford added nine and eight, respectively.
• LaCour put away each of her first four swings to open the match and closed the day with nine on a .300 hitting percentage. She added five block assists.
• Wakley put together another solid day of work behind seven block assists and six kills.
• Soares gave ORU another double-double effort posting 35 set assists and 10 digs. The sophomore also recorded six block assists.
• Thiessen paced the visitors with 15 digs.
• The Golden Eagles out-hit the Pioneers by a .216 to .206 margin as they forced the home team into 35 attack errors.

 
Up Next
ORU will be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the 2021 Summit League Volleyball Championships Nov. 25-27 from the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota. The Golden Eagles will face the No. 4/5 seed Roos of Kansas City Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
 
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.