ORU Volleyball Falls To Nevada

Oral Roberts University was swept by Nevada, 3-0, on Friday afternoon in the opening match of the 2014 Pepperdine Asics Classic. ORU falls to 0-1 with the setback.

THE BASICS

Score: Nevada 3, Oral Roberts 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-13)

Records: Nevada – 1-0, Oral Roberts – 0-1

Location: Firestone Fieldhouse – Malibu, Calif.

TURNING POINT

A Sam Willoughby service ace broke a 16-all tie in what had been a very close 1st set. The ace started a run of three straight for the Wolfpack, who controlled the remainder of the match.

THE LEADERS

Nevada: Willoughby led all players with 10 kills, and Kara Kasser dug out 11 balls.

Oral Roberts: Sara Pope notched nine kills, while Lucija Bojanjac had a double-double in her collegiate debut with 10 digs and 24 assists.

1ST SET – NEVADA 25-21

ORU committed nine service errors and dopped the set despite hitting .207 to Nevada's .192. Pope had six kills to lead the way.

2ND SET – NEVADA 25-17

Four straight Nevada points gave the Wolfpack a 5-2 lead they never relinquished. Nevada hit .321 in the frame and scored seven of the last nine points.

3RD SET – NEVADA 25-13

Nevada won 16 of the first 20 points, including four service aces. A Willoughby kill ended it on the fourth match point.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- Nevada hit .291 and held ORU to a .165 hitting percentage.

- The Golden Eagles tallied just one block on 86 Nevada attacks. ORU's season low was 4.0 blocks in 2013.

- ORU committed 14 service errors, five more than they tallied in any match last season

- Jovana Poljasevic and Laura Milos each had five kills, while Kylie Johnson recorded nine digs.

- Milos had ORU's only ace of the match

NEWS AND NOTES

- Four Golden Eagles made their collegiate debuts on Friday, as freshmen Bojanjac, Milos, Shelby Cox and Maggie DiPronio all saw court time.

- ORU featured a new libero for the first time in three seasons as Johnson took over for graduated two-time conference player of the year Bruna Silva

- The Golden Eagles also had a new setter, as Bojanjac replaced the graduated Laura Taylor. The Union HS product had led ORU in assist in every match from 2011-13.

- ORU fell to 23-19-1 all-time in the state of California

- ORU is now 5-7 in season-openers under head coach Sheera Sirola. The Golden Eagles had won their last two season openers.

- ORU was swept just once last year and, prior to Friday, had suffered just one three-set loss in their last 45 matches

- The two programs had never met before Friday

UP NEXT

ORU continues their run in Malibu on Saturday with a 10 am PT match against South Alabama and a 6 pm PT meeting with host Pepperdine.