Box Score
STATESBORO, Ga. - Sara
Pope
blasted 17 kills and Bruna
Silva added 20 digs as Oral Roberts University swept North
Dakota State, 3-0, on Friday afternoon in a battle of former Summit
League rivals. The victory is the fourth in a row for the Golden
Eagles.
ORU (7-1) took the match by scores of 25-22, 29-27 and 25-19.
Pope's 17 kills were just two off of a season-high and came on the
strength of a .333 hitting percentage. McKenna
Qualls added 10 kills on the day, while Jessica
Pancratz chipped eight kills while hitting at a .533 clip.
Silva wasn't the only defensive star, as fellow senior Luara
Rosa notched 11 digs. Laura
Taylor again guided the offense, with 39 assists.
Emily Miron led NDSU (0-7) with 13 kills, while Ariel Listebarger
added 15 digs.
ORU hit .315 as a team and held the Bison to a .248 hitting
percentage. The Golden Eagles recorded four blocks, with Caroline
Arnould coming up with two solo efforts.
The victory snaps a two-match ORU losing streak against North
Dakota State. The teams last met in the 2011 Summit League
Championship Match.
Sheera
Sirola's team fell behind in the opening set, 12-6, before
scoring five straight points, including two Qualls aces, to tighten
the proceedings. The freshman smashed a kill to break a 19-all tie
and finally hand ORU the lead, while a Bison attack error on set
point ended the frame with ORU winning, 25-22.
ORU scored the first point of the 2nd set but immediately fell
behind and trailed most of the way. The Bison earned a set point at
24-23 on a Jenni Fassbender kill, but Pancratz responded with
consecutive kills of her own. Later Qualls fought off a set point
at 26-25, and Pope racked up kills on the final two points of the
set to give ORU the 29-27 win.
The Golden Eagles took the lead for good at 17-16 in the 3rd set,
and Qualls followed that up with her third and final service ace of
the night. Another ORU newcomer helped bring the victory home, as
Arnould earned a match point with a solo block and made good on the
opportunity with a kill to clinch the match with a 25-19 set
victory.
The victory is the seventh in a row for ORU in tournament play, as
they went 3-0 at both the Texas Southern and UTEP tournaments on
the first two weekends of the year.
Sirola's squad will play their final scheduled doubleheader of the
season on Saturday to complete play at the Georgia Southern
Tournament. ORU will face High Point at 10 am ET before suiting up
later that night against the host Eagles, with first serve booked
for 7 pm ET.