Oral Roberts University dropped three incredibly tight sets on Tuesday night as they were swept by Northwestern State, 3-0, in Southland Conference action. The loss snaps ORU's four-match winning streak and knocks the Golden Eagles out of a 3rd place tie with the Lady Demons in the Southland Conference standings.

Northwestern State (14-10, 10-2 SLC) won the three sets by scores of 25-22, 26-24 and 28-26.

Sadie Schaffner led the Golden Eagles (17-5, 9-3 SLC) with 11 kills, and Bruna Silva added 20 digs. But Oral Roberts hit just .174 in the loss and tallied only four total blocks.

The Lady Demons were paced by Ashley Elrod's 11 kills, while Caiti O'Connell chipped in 10. Defensively, Keelie Arneson chalked up a team-high 17 digs, while Elrod collected her second double-double of the year against ORU with 10 digs.

Northwestern State hit .221 as a team.

The win, combined with a 3-2 victory on October 5 in Tulsa, gives Northwestern State a regular season sweep of ORU.

ORU fell behind early in the 1st set, as a Vanessa Coleman kill gave Northwestern State their sixth straight point and a 12-4 lead. The visitors rallied to cut the gap to 23-19 on a McKenna Qualls kill, but the Lady Demons held on a clinched the set, 25-22, as Mackenzie Neely slotted in a kill.

The Golden Eagles trailed by as many as five points in the 2nd set before almost storming back for a win. Down 24-21, ORU scored three straight, capped by a Silva service ace, to tie the frame at 24-all. But Northwestern State scored the next two points, on two ORU errors, to take a 26-24 win and a 2-0 lead overall.

The 3rd set was another nail biter, with ORU earning a set point at 24-23 on a Jovana Poljasevic kill. Northwestern State scored the next two points on consecutive rallies to earn a match point, but ORU scored two straight on attack errors to earn another set point.

But Northwestern State tallied the final three points of the match to put ORU away. A block by Elrod and Coleman at match point ended the set at 28-26 and gave Northwestern State a sweep.

Laura Taylor led all players with 23 set assists, while Sara Pope had her best defensive night as a Golden Eagle, with 14 digs.

ORU continues their difficult three-match road trip on Thursday night with a battle against Southland Conference contender Sam Houston State. Match time in Huntsville, Texas is scheduled for 7 pm CT.