ORU Volleyball Takes Down Arkansas

Oral Roberts struck for their biggest win of the 2014 season on Tuesday night, a 3-2 victory over Arkansas. The Golden Eagles are now 5-3 with the win.

THE BASICS

Score: Oral Roberts 3, Arkansas 2 (26-24, 21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 16-14)

Records: Oral Roberts – 5-3, Arkansas – 3-4

TURNING POINT

Laura Milos fought off an Arkansas match point, tying the contest at 14-all in the 5th set. Two points later, a Sara Pope kill on ORU's first match point clinched the victory for the Golden Eagles at 16-14.

THE LEADERS

Oral Roberts: Milos recorded an astounding 38 kills in the victory, while Pope added 11. McKenna Qualls posted a second straight double-double, with 10 kills and 15 digs.

Arkansas: Meredith Hays set a career high with 29 kills, and Monica Bollinger led all players with 28 digs.

1ST SET – ORU 26-24

Arkansas held a 24-21 lead and looked ready to take a 1-0 lead. But the Golden Eagles reeled off five consecutive points to stun the Razorback crowd. Pope tallied two kills as part of the rally, and ORU took a 26-24 win.

2ND SET – ARKANSAS, 25-21

An Ana Sofia Justino kill gave Arkansas a 14-13 lead, and they held the advantage for the remainder of the set. The Razorbacks scored four of the final five points, ending on a service error, to take a four-point triumph.

3RD SET – ORU, 25-22

A back-and-forth set tilted ORU's way on a Milos kill to make it 21-20. Another kill from the freshman brought ORU to set point, and a Razorback service error gave ORU a three-point win.

4TH SET – ARKANSAS, 25-23

The 30th kill of the night from Milos gave ORU a 23-22 lead, and victory was just two points away. But the Razorbacks won the final three points of the period, including a Hays Kill at set point.

5TH SET – ORU, 16-14

Yet another Milos kill gave ORU an 8-7 lead as the teams switched ends. But it Was Arkansas who earned the first match point, as an ORU error made it 14-13.

The Golden Eagles would not be denied. They scored the final three points of the match, with Pope smashing a kill at ORU's first match point to give the Golden Eagles a win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- Milos is the first ORU player to record 30 kills since September 9, 2006, when Ori Zuzic posted 36 kills against Utah Valley

- Hays is the first Arkansas player with 25 kills since Jasmine Norton accomplished the feat against Kentucky in 2011

- Lucija Bojanjac set a personal best with 57 assists, and she added nine digs

- Milos recorded a double-double, her third, by adding 12 digs to her 38 kills

- Maggie DiPronio set a career high with 19 digs.

- ORU and Arkansas each posted .228 hitting percentages

- Milos hit .347 on 75 attempts.

- Junior middle blocker Caroline Arnould made her 2014 season debut for ORU, seeing action in the 4th set.

NEWS AND NOTES

- Head Coach Sheera Sirola is now 214-136 in her career

- ORU is now 7-11 all-time against Arkansas, with wins in the last two matches against the Razorbacks

- The win is Sirola's third against an SEC opponent, including victories over LSU in 2003 and Arkansas in 2011.

- ORU has now beaten two teams that qualified for the 2013 NCAA Tournament – Arkansas and Milwaukee

- Tuesday was ORU's first appearance on the new SEC Network, as the match was available through the SECN+ streaming package

UP NEXT

ORU heads to the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup this weekend. They'll face Sam Houston State and host Houston on Friday beginning at 1 p.m., and Louisiana on Saturday at 9 a.m.