The Oral Roberts volleyball team snapped a seven-match losing streak with a sweep (25-20, 25-12, 25-18) of Western Illinois Thursday evening inside Western Hall in Macomb, Illinois.
Trinity Freeman paced the offensive attack for the Golden Eagles as the sophomore put down a match-best 11 kills on 24 swings for a .375 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Jeslyn Spencer joined Freeman in double-figures with 10 kills.
For the third straight match, Kalena Vaivai topped ORU in assists with a match-high 32. On the defensive side, Breanna Rivas scooped up 20 Leatherneck attacks to lead all players. At the net, Sakira LaCour totaled a match-best six blocks.
In the opening set, the Golden Eagles raced out to a 4-0 start. The Leathernecks responded with four of the next five points to draw within one, 5-4. With the score tied at 12-12, WIU used a 4-1 stretch to take a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Out of the stoppage, ORU used a 6-1 run to take a 19-16 lead and force a Leatherneck timeout. Following the pause in play, the Golden Eagles pushed their stretch to 8-1 and went on to take the first set, 25-20.
The first five points of the second stanza went the way of the Golden Eagles, led by two kills from Freeman. Following a 4-1 stretch by WIU that drew them to within two, 6-4, Freeman sparked a 5-1 run with her fourth kill of the set as ORU took an 11-5 advantage. After another 5-1 stretch by the Golden Eagles extended their lead to 18-9, ORU scored seven of the final 10 points to claim the second set, 25-12.
In a back-and-forth third set that saw the two sides even at 10-10, the Leathernecks put together the first run of the stanza with a 3-0 stretch that gave them a 13-10 lead. After an ORU timeout, the Golden Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to regain the lead for good, 17-13. ORU claimed eight of the final 13 points to win the set, 25-18, and the match.
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up