Golden Eagles Earn 3-1 Win Over Cross-Town Rival

[mickeyb]

Way to go ladies!

TULSA, Okla. ? The Oral Roberts University volleyball team traveled cross-town on Wednesday night for a meeting with rival Tulsa, and the Golden Eagles left the Reynolds Center with a hard fought 3-1 (30-28, 30-27, 28-30, 30-28) victory, extending their lead to 55-10 in the teams' all-time series.

The Golden Eagles (1-3) were lead by Ori Zuzic's (Porec, Croatia) 28-kill, 13-dig performance, her fourth consecutive double-double.  Thais Parada (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added a double-double of her own, registering 10 kills and a match-high 58 assists.

ORU hit .199 as a team on the night, while limiting the Golden Hurricane (3-1) to a .165 mark.  The visitors totaled 75 kills to TU's 64 markers, while also holding a 16-7 block lead.

The Golden Eagles took control first in game one, as a Kim Snow (DeKalb, Ill.) kill gave them an early 9-4 lead.  TU fired right back, however, using an 8-1 spurt to stake a 12-10 advantage.  The home squad's lead stood at 24-21when a Zuzic block sparked an 8-1 ORU that put them ahead 29-25.  The Golden Hurricane managed to fight off game point five times, but a Snow kill finally gave game one to the Golden Eagles, 30-28.

The beginning of game two featured more tight action, as five ties and a pair of lead changes left the game knotted at 7-7 early on.  Parada finally gave ORU some breathing room recording back-to-back kills for a 15-10 lead.  The gap would close to a single point at 21-20, but the Golden Eagles responded with five quick tallies and a 26-20 advantage.

TU fought back again, however, fending off game point four times to pull within 29-27 before a JoJo Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) kill gave the visitors a 30-27 victory and 2-0 match lead.

Game three was another tightly contested affair with the Golden Hurricane eking out a 30-28 win.

Things were neck and neck again throughout game four, as the two teams combined for 13 ties and five lead changes.  ORU looked to take the lead for good after three kills from Zuzic gave them a 21-18 lead, but TU again refused to go away, pulling even at 25-25.  The home side then scored three of the next four points for a 28-27 advantage.  But the Golden Eagles rallied again, getting a pair of kills from Zuzic sandwiched around a TU error to take the game 30-28 and claim a 3-1 match victory.

Snow finished the night with 13 kills and eight blocks, while Maja Devic (Split, Croatia) added 10 kills and seven blocks.  Cris Alves (Sao Caetano, Brazil) recorded 24 digs, making her just the sixth player in ORU history to reach the 1,000-dig plateau.

The Golden Eagles will travel to Miami, Fla. this weekend, as they participate in the 2006 Florida International Invitational.  They will open tourney play against host FIU in a 6:00 p.m. (central) match on Friday evening.

--ORU--