Ariy-El Boynton

ourth game in a row, the SDSU (16-7, 7-2 in the Summit League) volleyball team took on the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts University (7-1, 12-8) at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Tulsa, Okla. ORU beat the Jacks 3-1 (27-30,30-25,24-30,25-30) in a battle for conference supremacy.

The crucial match showed on the court that team ORU has the ability to control their own destiny. If they win out, ORU would be the number one seed in the Summit League Conference Tournament sceduled for Nov.16 in Fort Wayne, Ind.

In the fourth and deciding game, senior Amy Anderson’s early game kill allowed her to reach the 1,000 kill club for her career, which puts her in elite company among SDSU volleyball players. Anderson, along with fellow senior Kristina Martin, determined a rally and forced a final fifth game. They were met by a host of Golden Eagles. A kill by Jocelyn Swier gave the Golden Eagles an 18-14 advantage in mid-game action. SDSU could not manage a comeback and lost the game, and the match, 30-25.

The first game saw a seesaw between the Eagles and the Jackrabbits. With more than six lead changes during the first game, neither team had the lead for more than two points until the end of the game. Emily Rooney’s ace, along with a huge hit from Martin broke a tie, putting the Jacks into the lead. Jojo Souza and the Eagles capitalized and were the benefactors of many SDSU mistakes. They ran away with the game 30-27 and a 1-0 lead in the match for ORU.

While falling behind early, the Jacks showed great energy that was missing from their previous road trip and saw them without a win against three teams.

In the second game the Jackrabbits attempted to silence the crowd behind the strong play of Martin, Samantha Pearson and Rooney. Rooney’s big swing made the score 18-11. SDSU rode the clutch play from its seniors and won the second match 30-25.

The third game saw the Golden Eagles go ahead 2-1 with a decisive 30-24 victory, using strong play from their international players.

South Dakota State (7-2) currently stands behind ORU (7-1) and is in second place with IPFW (7-3) and North Dakota State University (6-3). IPFW is currently in the hunt for the fifth and final Summit League conference tournament spot.

The Jacks beat Centenary 3-0 the day after losing to Oral Roberts.

Up next for the Jacks is the rival Bison of NDSU in Fargo, N.D. The Jacks look to make it two wins in a row Oct. 20.