South Dakota State fell into an early 0-2 hole on Friday against league-leading Oral Roberts, but the Jackrabbits fought back to force a fifth set, only to fall to the Golden Eagles 15-10 in the deciding stanza.
"We've been fighting coming out slow, and we did that again tonight. We let Oral Roberts dictate the pace of the match early, and we struggled through the first two sets," head coach Phil McDaniel said. " I like the way we finished the match, but we need that type of effort and focus from 0-0."
The Jacks sixth straight loss, by the set scores of 25-15, 26-24, 25-23, 25-18 and 15-10, drops them to 11-10 on the season overall and 3-5 in Summit League play heading into the final league match of the season on Saturday against Southern Utah, who dropped a 3-0 contest on Friday at North Dakota State.
Oral Roberts seventh straight win boosts its record to 16-6 overall and 7-1 in league play heading into Saturday's match at NDSU, who enters the match with the same 7-1 Summit League record.
Kelly Herrmann led the Jackrabbits in the loss with a career-high 16 kills, with a career-high 50 attacks, with just one error for an even .300 hitting percentage. She also posted 14 digs for her third double-double of the season and fifth of her career.
Kelli Fiegen finished with 14 kills, adding three solo blocks, two block assists and a career-high three service aces. Kaitlin Klingemann pitched in with 11 kills, while Lexi Fowler finished with 43 set assists and 12 digs for her sixth career double-double and third in as many matches.
Elizabeth McVicker led four Golden Eagles with double-digit kills with a match-high 20. Jessica Pancratz finished with 12, Olivia Ophus 11 and Joana Gruber 10 kills in the win. Ophus added 16 digs for the double-double.
The Jackrabbits look to right the ship on Saturday, when they close the first half of the league season against Southern Utah in Frost Arena at 7 p.m.
