The Basics
Oral Roberts (4-9) vs. St. Thomas (2-12)
Dates: September 27
Location: Cooper Aerobics Center / Tulsa, Okla.
Live Video: ORUSN | Live Stats: Sidearm Stats

TULSA, Okla. – The Oral Roberts volleyball team continues Summit League play Tuesday evening inside the Cooper Aerobics Center as they host St. Thomas at 7 p.m.

Important Links
ORU Match Notes
Summit League Notes

Opening Serve
• Behind double-doubles from Kalena Vaivai and Kaia Dunford, the Golden Eagles opened Summit League play with a four-set win over Kansas City on Saturday.
 
• Vaivai dished out a season-best 38 assists and scooped up 10 KC attacks for her third double-double in the last four matches. The Wailuku, Hawaii, native also set a new career-high for service aces with seven.
 
• Dunford logged her team-leading sixth double-double of the year after finishing with 10 kills and 16 digs.
 
• In Saturday's victory, Sakira LaCour recorded her 300th career block and moved into seventh all-time in program history in block assists (263).
 
• For the season, LaCour ranks second in the Summit League and eighth nationally in total blocks with 75. The senior also sits 17th nationally in blocks per set at 1.42.

• As a team, ORU leads the Summit League in attacks per set (37.25) and ranks inside the top 3 in aces (84), aces per set (1.58), digs (855), digs per set (16.13) and attacks (1,974).
 
• Nationally, ORU sits 13th in attacks per set, 24th in digs per set and 34th in digs.

• The Golden Eagles are coming off their best season since 2016 after recording an 18-11 mark in 2021.

• In the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Golden Eagles were selected to finish fourth, garnering 53 votes. Middle blocker LaCour and outside hitter Freeman were selected as the Preseason Players to Watch for the Golden Eagles as voted on by the league's 10 head coaches. In 2021, LaCour was a First Team All-Summit League performer, while Freeman was named to the All-Freshman Team. 

• Head Coach Frank Craig III is in his third season at the helm of the Golden Eagles and returned nine letterwinners from a season ago. In the offseason, Craig welcomed freshmen Kyla Randall, Kedron Burk, Natassia Baptiste and Serena Kohler to the roster, along with Utah State transfer Kalena Vaivai.

Inside the Matchup: St. Thomas
• Tuesday's contest marks the third meeting all-time between ORU and St. Thomas.
 
• The Golden Eagles swept both meetings last season against the Tommies.
 
• St. Thomas is in their second season at the NCAA Division I level and were picked to finish ninth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
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.