The Western Illinois University volleyball team endured a clean sweep at the hands of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles amidst a plethora of pink during the Dig for the Cure Weekend at Brophy Hall.
The Westerwinds (5-11, 1-2 Summit League) fell to Oral Roberts (10-5, 4-1) in three quick sets (27-25, 25-20, 25-20) and lost ground in their early conference season. Although WIU was unable to achieve victory in any set, it was never entirely out of grasp.
The Westerwinds were particularly combative in the first set, managing to hold on to a tenuous lead up until their 13th point. In a theme that would dominate the night, however, the Golden Eagles chose that time to strike. Oral Roberts notched a couple quick points that seemed to still any Westerwinds momentum.
"They always made a run about halfway through," said WIU head coach Kym McKay in summation of the evening. "They didn't run away with it; it was just those small little points in there."
McKay also pointed to the Golden Eagles' laundry list of veterans as a strong component of their victory - Oral Roberts has six seniors eligible to play, compared to the Winds' two - but also saw that issue as a double-edged sword.
"We've been watching those kids play for four years," said McKay. "We just didn't do a great job of playing the mental game ORU plays."
The Golden Eagles consistently befuddled WIU with switches between kills and tip attacks, sending Westerwinds women to the floor numerous times throughout the contest. According to McKay, it was something WIU was prepared for but ultimately unable to counter.
A lack of focus was also evident on paper with seven lead changes in the first set, just three in the second and an uncontested Eagle run in the finale.
There were some individual highlights for the Winds, though, with senior left side hitter Monique Houston falling just one kill shy of the millennium-mark in her career. Junior middle hitter Erik Frick also owned the net for WIU with a team-leading 10 kills on the night.
"We learned that as such a young team, we can play with the best in the league," said Frick. "I think everybody on the team showed good spurts of hustle and aggressiveness and we just need to keep improving on that."