Box Score
TULSA, Okla. -- Opening the Summit League season, the IUPUI volleyball team hung tough but could not overcome an experienced Oral Roberts squad on Friday night, falling 3-0, at the Cooper Aerobics Center.
Dana Gardner led IUPUI with 8 kills in the 23-25, 19-25, 20-25, loss.
IUPUI (1-9, 0-1 Summit) hit .217 for the match, but Oral Roberts (3-5, 1-0 Summit) countered by hitting .366.
Kalyse Reimbold chipped in 7 kills for the Jaguars, while two Golden Eagles led the team with 13 kills.
Just as they did on Tuesday, the Jaguars came out strong, opening a 16-13 lead in the first set after a Reimbold ace and
Lindsey Weber kill. However, after a timeout, Oral Roberts regrouped, erasing IUPUI's 19-17 lead with five straight points.
The Jaguars were undeterred, however, as they captured two of the next three points to close within 23-22 after a Reimbold kill. After a block by
Alexis Meeks and
Jessica Phelps knotted the set at 23, the Golden Eagles took the crucial next point, creating a chance to win the set.
ORU did just that on the next serve, capitalizing on an IUPUI error to build an early lead.
In the second set, it was the Golden Eagles breaking an early stalemate to take a four-point advantage midway through the set, 14-10. After a Gardner kill helped the Jaguars close within two at 19-17, Oral Roberts reopened the four-point edge and forced IUPUI into a timeout with the score, 22-18.
The timeout did little to help, as ORU grabbed an ace on the next service and rolled to a 2-0 set lead.
The third set saw the Jaguars fall behind early, but the squad rallied over the next 11 points, turning a 9-6 deficit into a 14-12 lead behind the service game of
Shari Bernhardt. On the junior's serve, IUPUI got two kills from Reimbold sandwich around a Gardner kill to build their lead.
Oral Roberts attempted to get back into the set, but the Jaguars were steadfast, as a kill from Gardner and an ORU attack error helped IUPUI hold onto a 20-17 advantage.
However, three straight Golden Eagle points forced IUPUI into a timeout, and with momentum squarely on their side, Oral Roberts completed the 8-0 run to put the match away.
The Jaguars will look for their first Summit League win of the season when they continue their road trip on Sunday at Centenary. The match will begin at 3 p.m. ET from Shreveport, La..
