Stephen F. Austin
Oral Roberts
SFA Holds Off Oral Roberts
11/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - Stephen F. Austin rallied from a rough first set to take the next three and knock off Oral Roberts, 3-1 (14-25, 25-20, 25-22, 29-27) on Thursday at the Cooper Aerobics Center.
Sabrina Burns, the only native of Oklahoma on the SFA (21-10, 11-6 SLC) roster, led the Ladyjacks with 17 kills and three blocks as the Ladyjacks completed the season sweep of ORU (14-14, 10-7 SLC) in the Golden Eagles' first season in the Southland Conference.
The win also propels SFA ahead of ORU in the league standings and secures the Ladyjacks of no lower than the No. 5 seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament to be played next week in Conway, Ark.
Tori Bates had 13 kills and Katzy Randall had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, while Jacque Allen continued to showcase her skills at the net, rejecting seven ORU shots. Madison Hanlan led all players with 22 digs, the second consecutive match in which she registered 22 digs.
The Golden Eagles wasted no time jumping out to a 1-0 lead, hitting .335 and rolling their way to an 11-point win in the opening frame, holding the Ladyjacks to just -.037 hitting. But the Ladyjacks managed to hit .245 the rest of the match, starging one set later when the Ladyjacks answered, getting six kills from Bates and fighting off a Golden Eagle rally to even the match at a set apiece going into the half.
The third set went in the Ladyjacks' favor also, hitting .212 and erasing an 18-15 ORU lead to rally to a 25-22 win to put itself in position to close things out. ORU led for the majority of the set, up as much as three at the 19-16 after an SFA error; however, the Ladyjacks rallied and went on a 7-2 spurt to take a 23-21 lead on a kill from Burns.
ORU then knotted it up at 24-24 before successfully fighting off a match-point try for SFA and getting to a set-point try of its own. But Randall dialed up an ace to tie it up and SFA eventually got consecutive kills from Jill Ivy and Randall to close it out, 29-27 and take the match.
SFA will next travel to Conway, Ark., to take on Central Arkansas at the Prince Center in the final match of the regular season.
-SFA-
