ORU Volleyball Tops Western Illinois In Five Sets

After winning the first two sets, the Oral Roberts volleyball survived a Western Illinois rally as the Golden Eagles captured the 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 15-25, 15-13) victory Sunday afternoon at Western Hall.

The victory, thanks in large part to a balanced offensive attack, snapped a six-match road losing streak that dated back to a September 9 victory at Arkansas. Led by Laura Milos' 21 kills and Sara Pope's 18 kills, ORU had eight different players record at least one kill in the victory. Lucija Bojanjac posted 54 assists, matching her third best output of the season.

The Turning Point

Tied 13-13 in the fifth set after giving up two straight points, ORU took a timeout that paid off big as the Golden Eagles came out of the break and immediately got a kill by Laura Milos and an ace by McKenna Qualls to take the fifth set 15-13.

The Leaders

Oral Roberts: Laura Milos had 21 kills, her first 20-kill performance since October 5, and Lucija Bojanjac had 54 assists, the most for the freshman since September 25. Defensively, Maggie DiPronio had 13 digs, while Pope and Milos added 12 digs each and Bojanjac completed the double-double with 10 digs.

WIU: Ann Miller had 17 kills, while Molly Murphy had 16 digs.

Inside the Box Score

- ORU had five total blocks, but Laura Milos had a hand in three of them, the most of her career. Jovana Poljasevic was in on four blocks, and Sara Pope had a solo block.

- WIU had 11 team blocks, but also had seven blocking errors.

- In the three sets won, ORU had a combined 13 attack errors; in the two sets lost, ORU had a combined 18 errors.

News & Notes

- ORU won on the road for the first time since beating Arkansas September 9.

- ORU now leads Western Illinois 30-5 in the all-time series

- The Golden Eagles finished the first half of the conference season 4-4 and will play five home matches during the second half of the league slate.

Up Next

ORU will host South Dakota Friday to kick off a stretch in which the Golden Eagles will play five of six matches at home.