Sooners Drop 3-1 Decision To No. 12 Kansas State

Oct. 23, 1999

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma volleyball team lost 9-15, 15-6, 15-7, 15-8 to 12th-ranked Kansas State Saturday afternoon at the OU Field House in Norman. It was the Wildcats first win in Norman since 1996.

Leading 5-2, the Sooners rolled off six consecutive points to take a convincing 11-2 lead in game one. KSU battled to within four points at 12-8 with a 6-1 run, however, the Wildcats could not sustain the rally as OU landed four of its five service aces in the opening game and hit .364 to win, 15-9. In game two, KSU jumped out to a 4-1 lead before the Sooners cut the margin to 7-5. The Cats rallied with four straight points at 11-5 to grab the second game, 15-6. With the Sooners taking a 6-1 lead early in game three, KSU pulled yet another turnaround as the Cats tied it 7-7 before rolling with eight straight points to win 15-7. Game four started with a 4-1 OU lead before KSU once again fought back to take a 6-4 advantage. Although the Sooners tied the game at 6-6 and 7-7, K-State pulled away in the end, taking the game and match 15-8.

"We blocked better than we have all season," said OU Head Coach Miles Pabst. "Passing is the key and we need to get stronger in that area. The effort was good. It helps our confidence, now that we see we can play with the top teams in the nation, but we need to win."

Sophomore Chantae Weathers (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Cathy Cook (Irvine, Calif.) led OU for the second consecutive match. Weathers mustered up a team high 14 kills, followed Cook who contributed 10 spikes. Sophomore hitter Danielle Bookout (Hereford, Texas) hustled for a match and career best 13 digs. In addition, Bookout contributed four block assists, one solo block and added eight kills for the day. Weathers and Cook were also solid at the net for the Sooners. Weathers collected a match high three solo blocks, while Cook earned one solo and four block assists.

"Its important that we continue to fight hard," replied Pabst. "Kansas State does nice things but I believe we are just a click or two away from being as good as they are."

Kansas State was paced by senior outside hitter Dawn Cady with 20 kills and eight digs. Sophomore hitter Liz Wegner chipped in 14 kills and six digs, while junior middle blocker Kelle Branting posted 13 kills.

For the match, Oklahoma had 50 kills, committed 30 errors on 129 total attempts for a hitting percentage of .155. Kansas State netted a .256 clip with 58 kills on 25 errors in 129 total attempts. OU out blocked K-State, 15-11, but the Cats took the advantage in digs, 43-31. KSU also landed 10 service aces to Oklahoma's five.

OU drops to 6-14 on the season and 1-9 in Big 12 action, while K-State, who is tied for first in the Big 12, goes to 15-3 and 9-1.