ORU Volleyball Falls To Denver

Oral Roberts University ended their first week of conference play with a 3-0 loss to Denver on Monday evening. ORU (7-9, 1-2 Summit League) has dropped two straight matches.

THE BASICS

Score: Denver 3, Oral Roberts 0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-14)

Records: Denver – 13-3 (2-0 SL), Oral Roberts – 7-9 (1-2 SL)

Location: Hamilton Gymnasium – Denver, Colo.

TURNING POINT

ORU came out of the gates slowly, dropping six of the first eight points, and they never truly recovered in the most lopsided loss of the 2014 season to date.

THE LEADERS

Oral Roberts: Laura Milos had a team-high eight kills, though she also had 10 attack errors. ORU's most consistent performer was Shelby Cox, who came up with seven kills and hit .600

Denver: Nola Basey led all players with 11 kills and Kate Acker posted a match-high 12 digs.

1ST SET – DENVER, 25-17

Oral Roberts got off to a slow start in the opening set and hit just .032 with nine attack errors. Moni Corrujedo ended the set with a kill at set point.

2ND SET – DENVER, 25-12

Denver quickly went to work and built a 10-4 lead on a Basey kill. The lead hit double-digits on an ORU error at 18-8, and two more ORU miscues on the final two points gave the Pioneers a commanding victory.

3RD SET – DENVER, 25-14

ORU lost the first two points but recovered to take a 7-4 lead on a Sofia Redden service ace. Denver charged back, however, taking a 14-13 lead on a Corrujedo kill, and they never trailed again. A Piyusha Boteju was the final point of the night

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- Denver hit .486, a season-high by an ORU opponent and the first hitting percentage of over .400 by a Golden Eagle foe since Loyola Marymount hit .432 on September 4, 2010. ORU lost that match, 3-0, in Manhattan, Kan.

- Maggie DiPronio and Kylie Johnson led ORU with six digs each

- Denver finished with seven total blocks, while ORU managed just one

NEWS AND NOTES

- Monday's match was the first between the two schools

- The 2010 loss to Loyola Marymount was also the last time ORU was swept without reaching 20 points in a single set