ORU rallies past Pepperdine

From ORU Sports Info.
Robert Walden, Director of Media Relations

MALIBU, Calif. – Laura Milos put on a clinic for the second time in 12 hours, tallying 29 kills and three aces to lead Oral Roberts University past Pepperdine, 3-1, in the final match of the Asics Classic.

THE BASICS

Score: Oral Roberts 3, Pepperdine 1 (13-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23)

Records: Pepperdine 2-1, Oral Roberts 2-1

Location: Firestone Fieldhouse – Malibu, Calif.

TURNING POINT

ORU was nearly doubled up in the 1^st set and was down, 11-7, in the 2^nd before Maggie DiPronio took her turn at serve. The freshman racked up four aces as part of a 7-0 run that turned the tide and gave the Golden Eagles momentum that carried them to the road victory.

THE LEADERS

Oral Roberts: Milos posted 29 kills for the second time in one day after blasting 29 against South Alabama in ORU’s morning win. Kylie Johnson added a team-best 14 digs and Lucija Bojanjac dished 55 assists.

Pepperdine: Jillian Bergeson had 17 kills and Gaby Palmeri added 15 for the Waves. Bergeson added 11 digs for the double-double.

1^ST SET – PEPPERDINE, 25-13

The Waves rolled to an easy win, hitting .636 to ORU’s .071 clip. Pepperdine collected a sideout on 13 of 14 opportunities and was led by six kills from Bergeson.

2^ND SET – ORU, 25-23

ORU was down by four before DiPronio served the way to seven straight points. The Golden Eagles took a 24-21 lead on a Sara Pope kill, but Pepperdine fought off two set points. After an ORU timeout, Pope buried her 3^rd and final kill of the set to give ORU a two-point win.

3^RD SET – ORU, 25-23

A five-point ORU run, capped by a Milos ace, gave the visitors an 11-4 lead. Pepperdine gradually whittled the lead down and scored three straight points to even the frame at 23-all. But ORU’s outside threats came through; Pope broke the tie with a kill and Milos followed with a kill of her own to give ORU another two-point victory.

4^TH SET – ORU, 25-23

Down 14-11, ORU drew even on three straight points, including two Milos aces. The freshman staked ORU to a pair of match points with a kill to make it 24-22. Pepperdine fought off the first, but not the second. Milos hugged her

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

–          Milos is the first Golden Eagle since 2007 to post 20 kills in back-to-back matches. The last ORU player to achieve the feat was Janete Ferreira, who smacked 23 kills on Oct. 27, 2007 against Western Illinois and added 22 against Tulsa four days later

–          Milos recorded an astounding 13 kills in the 4^th set alone

–          Pepperdine outhit ORU, .373 to .217. The Waves tallied a higher hitting percentage in three of the four sets. ORU was 1-7 last year when posting a lower hitting percentage

–          Pope notched a double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs. It’s the 4^th double-double of her ORU career

–          Maggie DiPronio tallied 10 digs, her second double-digit effort of the day

–          Johnson led ORU in digs for 2^nd time on the day and the 5^th time in her career

–          Jovana Poljasevic led ORU with three blocks

NEWS AND NOTES

–          Milos led the Asics Classic with 63 kills and was named to the all-tournament team

–          Other all-tournament selections included Becca Strehlow from Pepperdine and Sam Willoughby from Nevada

–          ORU, Nevada and Pepperdine each finished the tournament 2-1. By virtue of a tiebreaker, Nevada was declared tournament champion

–          The match was ORU’s first against a West Coast Conference team since Sept. 4, 2010, a 3-0 loss to Loyola Marymount in Manhattan, Kan.

–          ORU is now 25-19-1 all-time in the state of California

–          The two programs had never met before Saturday night’s match

UP NEXT

ORU opens play at the Dr. Mary Jo Winn Invitational on Thursday, when they face host Missouri State. First serve in Springfield, Mo., is scheduled for 7 pm CT.