The Basics
Oral Roberts (8-3, 2-0 SL) vs. South Dakota (5-6, 2-0 SL)
Date/Time: Thursday, September 30, 2021 / 4 p.m.
Location: Cooper Aerobics Center / Tulsa, Okla.
Live Video | Live Stats

Oral Roberts (8-3, 2-0 SL) vs. South Dakota State (9-4, 1-1 SL)
Date/Time: Saturday, October 2, 2021 / 1 p.m.
Location: Cooper Aerobics Center / Tulsa, Okla.
Live Video | Live Stats

TULSA, Okla. – Coming off a pair of road sweeps to open Summit League play, the Oral Roberts volleyball gets a chance to compete at home for the first time this season hosting South Dakota Sept. 30 and South Dakota State Oct. 2 at the Cooper Aerobics Center.

The Golden Eagles won all six sets last week in North Dakota taking down the Fighting Hawks Thursday and Bison Saturday for a perfect 2-0 start in conference contests.
Watch all the action live on the ORU Sports Network online at www.ORUAthletics.com/watch or tune in on the new ORUSN Roku app or ORU Athletics mobile app.

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. It also swept both North Dakota and North Dakota State away from home for the first time in program history.
 
•The Golden Eagles have utilized their depth offensively as five players have at least 60 kills, including two that recently crossed the century mark as Trinity Freeman has the team lead at 105 and Kaia Dunford has 104. The team has combined to register a hitting percentage of .241 that is third in the league and top 75 in the country.
 
•Libero Sarah Thiessen was named The Summit League Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in her career Aug. 31. She became the 12th player in program history to reach 1,000 digs in a career against UT Martin Sept. 3 and currently ranks fourth in the league and 64th in the NCAA averaging 4.6 digs per set.
 
•Sakira LaCour has helped the team remain a force at the net as the junior is second in The Summit League and 61st nationally averaging 1.3 blocks per set, while Jaxie Wakley and Freeman have aided the blocking effort totaling 35 and 34 blocks, respectively.
 
•Bryanne Soares leads the team with 339 set assists at 8.9 per set posting 30 or more in each of her last four outings, including a season-best 48 at Tulsa. Sylvia Lawson has added 77 assists and Thiessen has 42, including a career-best 10 against Tulsa Sept. 11 as part of her first collegiate double-double. ORU is currently second in the conference in assists per set at 12.3.
 
•South Dakota was picked to win the league after claiming the tournament title a season ago and has a perfect start to conference play. Elizabeth Juhnke leads the Coyotes offense with 145 kills and recorded her 1,000th career kill in a sweep of NDSU Tuesday. The USD defense ranks second in the league averaging 2.4 blocks per set led by Madison Harms' 1.2 per set.
 
•The Jackrabbits are off to a 9-4 start heading into the weekend after picking up their first Summit League win Tuesday in four sets at home against UND. Crystal Burk is an offensive threat leading the league behind 3.9 kills per set and has 185 total kills. SDSU is the only conference team with two players in the top 10 of digs per set as Tatum Pickar (4.1) and Faith Saewert (3.1) are fifth and 10th, respectively.
 
•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.