TULSA, Okla. - The Western Illinois volleyball team captured a back-and-forth first set but dropped the next three in a 3-1 loss (25-21, 22-25, 20-25, 18-25) to first-place Oral Roberts Thursday night (Oct. 20) inside the Cooper Aerobics Center.
The Golden Eagles (18-4, 11-1 Summit League) held advantages over the Fighting Leathernecks (11-12, 3-9 Summit League) in kills (59-48), digs (74-71) and blocks (9-6) in their 11th consecutive victory. ORU also hit at a .237 clip while holding Western to a .144 attack percentage.
Western Illinois used a 7-0 run to go up 15-12 in the first set before ORU managed a tie at 19-19. The Fighting Leathernecks closed out the set by capturing six of the last eight points, including two kills and a block by senior Brooke Stittleburg.
Western then held a 6-1 advantage in the second set before ORU went on a 16-6 run to pull away for the victory. ORU put down 15 kills and forced seven Western attack errors in the third set win before the Leathernecks ran out to another early lead (7-6) in the fourth set. However, ORU took control of the set with eight consecutive points and ultimately captured the match victory.
Freshman Molly Murphy started at libero and compiled a match and season-high 29 digs. It is Murphy's second 20-plus dig performance and the third highest total by a Leatherneck this season. Murphy also collected her conference-leading 34th service ace of the season in the third set.
Sophomore Sarah Fetter dished out 41 assists for her ninth 40-plus assist performance this season. Fetter also collected nine digs, three blocks, two kills and her ninth service ace of the 2011 campaign.
Senior Cait Egan had 12 kills on 34 attempts and tied a career-high with seven digs. Egan also inched closer to another career kills milestone. She needs just 23 more kills to move past Western Illinois Hall of Famer Diane Ellefritz (1987-91) into eighth place on the program's all-time list.
Sophomore Heather Smith came off the bench to put down a career-high nine kills on 20 attempts. Smith also collected two service aces for her first ace since Sept. 16 at North Dakota State. She is hitting at a .390 clip this season with 19 kills on 41 attempts.
Freshman Ann Miller recorded another solid all-around effort with 10 kills, nine digs and her 16th service ace of the season. Meanwhile, junior Katie Hosteng collected nine kills and a block assist.
Freshman Mallory Gibson picked up four blocks for the second consecutive match to raise her season total to 47 in just 50 sets played. Gibson is averaging a team-high 0.94 blocks per set this season.
Western Illinois takes Friday off to travel to Cedar City, Utah for Saturday's matchup (Oct. 22) with Southern Utah. The match with the Thunderbirds is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. CT inside Centrum Arena. Southern Utah is 7-16 overall and 4-8 in Summit League play after defeating IUPUI in four sets at home Thursday night.
