TULSA, Okla. – The IUPUI volleyball team hit just below .500 in the opening set to get out to an early lead on the road, but Oral Roberts won crucial points late in sets the rest of the way to earn a 3-1 win over the Jaguars Friday night at the ORU Aerobics Center.
The loss dropped the Jags to 11-6 overall and 2-1 in The Summit League, while the Golden Eagles remained unbeaten in league action moving to 3-0 in conference place and 9-7 overall.
IUPUI had three players in double figures in kills led by
Kaitlyn Hickey's 14, while
Gabby Fisher and
Logan Walling added 13 and 11, respectively. Walling and
Kelly Wachtel were effective for the Jags combining to hit .533 on the night, but the duo only accounted for 30 of the team's 142 attacks and the rest of the Jaguars hit at just a .170 clip.
Four different Jags recorded kills early in the first set helping them seize an 11-5 lead. Oral Roberts closed within two at 14-12, and after the next few points went back and forth, kills from Walling and Fisher moved the lead back to five at 20-15, forcing ORU to burn its second timeout. With the Jaguars lead at 21-16, a four-point rally to finish the set featuring a kill from Hickey and a block from
Kori Waelbroeck and
Abby Horn finished off a 25-16 opening-set win.
After only committing three errors in the first set en route to a .480 hitting percentage, IUPUI committed four errors in the opening stages of the second set helping ORU take a 9-5 lead. The Golden Eagles lead stayed at four at 14-10, but the Jaguars closed within one point on six different occasions only to have ORU respond all six times to keep the Jaguars from tying things up. After IUPUI closed within one at 21-20, ORU pulled away for the 25-21 win to even the match at one set apiece.
Out of the intermission, IUPUI returned to its first-set form and held a lead at 17-14. The Golden Eagles knotted things up at 19 forcing an IUPUI timeout, but out of the timeout things continued to go ORU's way. The Golden Eagles got two blocks on Hickey attacks and served up an ace to take a 22-19 lead, before carrying that momentum to a 25-20 third-set win to take a two sets to one lead.
The Golden Eagles took a 7-5 lead in the fourth set only to have the Jags take eight of the next 10 points to catapult in front, 13-9. A kill from Fisher upped the lead to 17-12, but four straight ORU points quickly made it 17-16, forcing a Jags timeout. Three ties ensued before consecutive kills from the Golden Eagles' setter made it 23-21 in favor of Oral Roberts. After an exchange of side outs gave ORU two match points, a block from Walling and Fisher spoiled one of those match points, but a Golden Eagles kill finished off a 25-23 ORU win.
IUPUI will look to get back on track on Sunday, Oct. 4, when it heads to Macomb, Ill., to take on Western Illinois.
