The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 2 – Kansas City 3
Records: ORU (7-15, 4-6) – Kansas City (7-16, 4-6)
Location: Swinney Center (Kansas City, Mo.)
 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Oral Roberts volleyball team fell in five sets (23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 12-15) on the road to Summit League foe Kansas City Saturday afternoon inside the Swinney Center.

For the fourth straight contest, Kaia Dunford topped the Golden Eagles in kills as the junior put down 21 on 51 swings for a .373 attack percentage. Dunford also fell just shy of her 10th double-double of the season after finishing with nine digs.

Kalena Vaivai orchestrated the ORU offensive attack as the senior dished out a match-high 32 assists and also scooped up 11 KC attacks for her seventh double-double of the season.

Defensively, Breanna Rivas registered a match-high 21 digs, while Bryanne Soares and Jeslyn Spencer contributed 13 and 10, respectively. At the net, Sakira LaCour picked up nine blocks to extend her season total to 108.

It was a back-and-forth start to the opening set as the two sides traded the first 22 points. A 5-1 run by the Roos broke the tie as they took a 16-12 lead. Trailing 18-13, LaCour sparked a 4-0 ORU run as the Golden Eagles drew within one, 18-17. Kansas City held off the Golden Eagles the rest of the way as they took the opening set, 25-23.

Leading 12-9 in the second stanza, the Golden Eagles used a 5-1 run to stretch their advantage to 17-10. After a Carly Gillen kill stopped the run, ORU answered with four of the next five points to take a 21-12 advantage. KC responded with a 5-0 stretch to trim the lead to 21-18. The two sides split the next eight points as ORU claimed set two, 25-22.

Behind a 4-0 run, the Golden Eagles took a 7-3 lead early in the third set. The Roos fired back with a 5-0 stretch to level the score at 14-14. After ORU regained the lead, 19-16, the Roos used a 4-0 run to jump in front, 20-19. The Golden Eagles responded with six of the final eight points to take the set, 25-21.

With the score tied at 15-15, KC used a 3-0 run to take an 18-15 lead before Dunford stopped the bleeding with her 19th kill of the match. An attack error by the Roos brought ORU to within one, 18-17, but that would be as close as they would get as KC scored seven of the final 10 points to send the match to a fifth and decisive set.

In the fifth and final set, Kansas City raced out to a 6-2 start before an attack error by the Roos ended the run. Trailing 9-4, Spencer sparked a 7-1 Golden Eagle stretch with her third block of the match to take an 11-10 lead. The Roos responded with a 5-1 run to claim the set, 15-12, and the match.

Match Notes

• Saturday's match marked the 56th meeting all-time and the second of the season between the Golden Eagles and Roos. 
• Despite the loss, ORU still holds a 47-9 edge in the all-time series.
• With the loss, the Golden Eagles split the regular season series with KC, 1-1.
• As a team, the Golden Eagles registered 12 blocks to the Roos five.
• In five-set matches this season, ORU is now 1-2.

Up Next
ORU returns home to face North Dakota Thursday, October 27 inside the Cooper Aerobics Center at 7 p.m.
 
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