The Basics
Score: No. 5 Oral Roberts 3, No. 4 Kansas City 1
Records: Oral Roberts (17-10, 12-7 SL), Kansas City (21-10, 12-6 SL)
Location: The Sanford Coyote Sports Center– Vermillion, S.D.

VERMILLION, S.D. – No. 5 Oral Roberts beat No. 4 Kansas City (18-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-14) in the first quarterfinal match of the 2021 Summit League Volleyball Championship behind Sakira LaCour’s and Trinity Freeman’s double-digit kill efforts. The Golden Eagles will advance to the semifinals where they will meet top-seeded Omaha Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT.
 
Who Stood Out
Oral Roberts’ All-League First Team member LaCour finished with a team-high 11 kills on a .429 hitting percentage (11-2-21) as well as six blocks. All-Freshman honoree Trinity Freeman followed with 10 kills, four digs and four blocks in her first Summit League Championship appearance in an Oral Roberts jersey.
 
Bryanne Soares paced the Golden Eagle’s offense as she finished with 34 assists. Defensively, Sarah Thiessen and Aixa Vigil each finished with double-figure digs. Thiessen recorded 13 while Vigil finished with 10 of her own.
 
Kansas City was led by All-League First Team honoree Melanie Brecka’s match-high 17 kills and 13 digs. Defensive Player of the Year Maddie Renn finished with 13 digs while Alli Schomers contributed 10 digs as well as 39 assists. All-League First Teamer De’Janae Arnold defended the net for the Roos finishing with five total blocks.
 
Turning Point
Kansas City took an early lead with a 25-18 first-set victory, but Oral Roberts wouldn’t have it. The Golden Eagles started the second set with an early 3-0 lead to set the pace. Kansas City would chip away at ORU’s early lead and would tie it up 5-5 after an attack error on the Golden Eagles.
 
The two traded points back and forth and tied the score 8-8 for the last time in the match. Three attacking errors for Kansas City followed by a service ace by Oral Roberts’ Bryanne Soares would start a 12-2 run for the Golden Eagles. The run would propel ORU to a second set victory (25-18) that set the momentum for the rest of the match.
 
Notable

• Kansas City and Oral Roberts split during the regular season. The Roos swept the Golden Eagles in the first meeting on Oct. 9. In the second meeting on Nov. 11, ORU took the match in four sets.
• This will be the first semifinal appearance for the Golden Eagles since 2017.
• Set three saw one lead change in the match, otherwise, Oral Roberts held the advantage in set 2 and set 4.
• Brecka’s 17-kill and 13-dig performance was her 16^th double-double of the season.
• LaCour entered the championship ranked 15^th nationally in blocks per set (1.33) and 27^th in total blocks (130).

 
Up Next
Oral Roberts will meet top-seeded Omaha at 4:30 p.m. CT Friday in the first semifinal match of the day.