Outside of one quality stretch of play early in the second set, the first home volleyball match of the season for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was a tough one.
Oral Roberts secured its first win of the year Tuesday night by sweeping UAPB 3-0 at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff.
UAPB (0-7) coach Gabrielle Floyd said it was a rough performance by the Lady Lions.
“I don’t feel like we came out focused and ready to play an entire match,” Floyd said. “We just had, like, bits and pieces, but we did not put the whole match together. It was just a very disappointing day for us.”
Oral Roberts (1-6) cruised to a 25-15 win in the first set. UAPB kept it close early but couldn’t keep up in the end.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Lady Lions came out firing to start the second set. UAPB scored the first five points, then forced an ORU timeout after freshman Marlina Anderson’s kill made it 7-1 Lions. A block from senior Laila Fortson made it 9-1.
Floyd said the Lady Lions’ offense helped them build that early lead.
“I think Laila had a great game,” Floyd said. “She was up and available, finding great shots. The team was actually being more relentless, going for the balls. We actually played like a team for a little while, but we got complacent, and that’s what happened. We just let things kind of slide or whatever, and we let them come back and take the lead.”
The Golden Eagles responded with a 16-5 run to take the lead, 17-14. The rest of the set was evenly matched with neither team going on a sustained run, but ORU finished off a 25-20 win.
UAPB again scored early in the third set and led by as much as 5-2. ORU soon after called a timeout, trailing 6-3.
Again, ORU responded, tying the game at 8. UAPB briefly retook the lead, 9-8, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 12-0 run to put the game beyond reach.
UAPB sophomore Ashanti Butler ended the run with a kill, but the deficit was too much. ORU junior Jenna Salyer and freshman Hope Hickman teamed up for a match-winning block to seal the 25-14 win in the third.
This was UAPB’s only home match of the non-conference portion of its schedule. The Lady Lions have two more nonconference tournaments, with the next coming Thursday and Friday at Memphis. The Lady Lions will travel to Arkansas-Monticello next Tuesday, then wrap up nonconference action with a tournament in New Orleans.
Floyd said she wants to see more maturity and teamwork from her players when they travel to Memphis.
“We have glimmers of hope when we want to actually work hard and play,” Floyd said. “But at the end of the day, we just lose focus way too quickly.”
UAPB junior setter Anaiah Jordan serves during Tuesday’s volleyball match against Oral Roberts at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff. (Special to the Commercial/William Harvey)