Tulsa
Oral Roberts
Tulsa Volleyball Sweeps Season Series with ORU, Wins 3-2
10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 31, 2007
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa volleyball team overcame a very spooky start to rebound for a 3-2 (30-24, 27-30, 24-30, 31-29, 15-12) victory over ORU at the Cooper Aerobic Center on Wednesday night. Senior Julia Silva recorded her sixth triple-double of the season with 13 kills, 55 assists and 14 digs. Her third consecutive triple-double helped the Golden Hurricane sweep the season series with the Golden Eagles for the first time in school history.
Tulsa bounced back from Sunday's loss by seizing control of the opening stanza with a 10-2 run after ORU tied the game at 17-7. The run was highlighted by three consecutive kills by senior Fabiola Nepomuceno, who had been held scoreless through the first 42 points of the match. The two teams posted 13 kills apiece in the first game, however TU was able to take advantage of five service aces and four more serving errors by ORU to take the game.
Despite holding early leads of 4-1 and 10-5, Tulsa was not able to hold its momentum in the second game. A late arriving crowd of 216 arrived right in time to see the Golden Eagles battle back to tie the game at 10-10 on a kill by Janete Ferreira. Early on, the Hurricane did not have an answer for Ferreira who recorded 12 kills in the first two games of the match. Her 12th kill tied the game for the 11th time, at 26-26 after TU took a two-point lead. ORU scored six of the final nine points of the game in part thanks to three TU hitting errors.
ORU kept its momentum after the break, as the Golden Eagles seemingly got to every ball. After TU took a 53 advantage, ORU went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead. Tulsa would battle back to tie the game at 12-12 on a kill by Silva, which also gave her a triple-double in the contest. The Eagles would take advantage of another TU miscue to take the lead for good. A block and an unforced hitting error gave TU hope at 22-21, however four kills from Ferreira allowed ORU to score eight of the final 11 points to take a 2-1 advantage.
Tulsa posted more kills than ORU in games two and three, but lost. The Hurricane were finally able to outhit the Eagles and win in a must-win game four. Tulsa also found an answer for Ferreira whose third kill of the game gave ORU an early 8-7 lead. However, she would post only one kill the rest of the match.
The fourth game was tied 18 times, with ORU holding a three-point lead at 7-4 and 17-14. A kill by Renee Brooks gave TU its first lead at 20-19. TU was able to win a sloppy sprint to the finish. The two squads appeared to run out of gas, as six of the final eight points of the game were scored on an error by the other team. A kill by TU's Hanna Stout gave TU a 29-28 lead, then ORU's Jackie Oliveira tied the score with the only other kill of the final run. TU squared the match 2-2 on an ORU service error followed by an attack error.
The final deciding stanza continued the excitement of the match, as the score was tied on five occasion. ORU held early leads of 2-0 and 6-4, before a 4-0 run by TU gave the Hurricane an 8-6 lead at the changeover. ORU would tie the game at 9-9 on a pair of kills by Danijela Novakovic. A fourth kills by freshman Emma Ridley in the game combined with a block by Silva and Hanna Stout and an ORU hitting error gave TU a 12-9 lead. Another service error by ORU set up TU with match point at 14-12, before Nepomuceno finished off the match with a kill on an overpass.
Four Golden Hurricane hitters reached double-figures in kills, led by Nepomuceno's 19. Brooks recorded a season-high 14 kills in the middle for TU, while Ridley posted 18. Defensively, a trio of Hurricane players posted double-digit dig performances. In addition to Silva's 13, junior Malorey Grove recorded 22 digs with fellow junior Kelsey Wood had 15 digs.
Tulsa improves to 22-6 on the season, while ORU falls to 14-12 on the year. The win at ORU was the first for the Hurricane since the 1991 season. The Eagles still own a sizable 56-12 advantage in the overall series, however TU has won three of the last five meetings. The Hurricane returns to the friendly confines of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for its final two home matches of the season this weekend. TU will host UAB on Friday for a 7 p.m. match, prior to hosting a Sunday matinee with Memphis at 1 p.m.
