Women's Volleyball Pushes No. 12 Texas To Limit

Nov. 6, 1999

AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Oklahoma volleyball team pushed 12th-ranked Texas to five games before losing 3-2 (3-15, 15-7, 11-15, 15-7, 15-13) in a Big 12 Conference match Saturday in Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas. The victory allowed the Longhorns to remain in a first-place tie in the Big 12 standings with No. 13 Nebraska, which defeated 16th-ranked Texas A&M 3-1 in Lincoln Saturday night.

Oklahoma fell to 8-16 overall and 3-11 in the league while the Longhorns improved to 17-5 overall and 11-3 in the Big 12, and extended their winning streak to 17 matches against the Sooners.

The Longhorns appeared to be on their way to a first-ever loss to the Sooners after Chantae Weathers nearly single-handedly staked OU to a 7-1 lead in game five by collecting three blocks and a pair of kills. Texas cut the advantage to 7-4 after a Sandra Reboucas kill and two Sooner hitting errors, but still trailed after another Weathers kill gave OU a 10-7 lead. After a Melissa Christman kill gave OU an 11-8 lead, the Sooners committed consecutive errors and led by one. Christman tried to swing the momentum back to the Sooners with another kill to make the score 12-10, but junior Meggan Kohnen and senior Erin Aldrich landed consecutive kills to knot the score at 12-12. Weathers knocked down her 25th kill of the night to put OU back on top 13-12, but Texas finished the Sooners off with consecutive kills by Kohnen, junior Jill Gremmel and Aldrich to propel the Longhorns to the win.

Weathers was one of four Sooners who ended the match with double digits kills. Weathers, a native of San Antonio, Texas, landed a career-high 25 kills, followed by Christman's 17, Danielle Bookout's 16 and Cathy Cook's 13 kills. Defensively, freshman Liz Newman hustled for a personal-best 16 digs, while junior setter Carolyn Kittell added 14 and dished out a season-high 66 assists.

Senior Sandra Reboucas led Texas with 16 kills, a match-high 18 digs and five service aces. Sophomore Kathy Tilson added 17 kills, while freshman Amy had nine kills and a team-high .389 hitting efficiency.

Trailing two games to one, Texas led wire to wire in the fourth game and knotted the match with a 15-7 win. The Longhorns sprinted out to a 5-0 lead before the Sooners pulled to within 5-4 following a block and a kill by Weathers. A 7-0 UT run pushed the lead back to eight (12-4), and after a 3-0 Oklahoma run, Reboucas put down a pair of kills and the Sooners committed a ball-handling error on game point to secure the victory.

Oklahoma blasted Texas with a 15-3 triumph in game one thanks to 22 kills and a .528 hitting efficiency. The Horns struggled to muster any offense in the first frame, posting just 12 kills on a .135 percentage. Texas turned the tables with a 15-7 win in game two. Texas opened with an 8-1 spurt, and Reboucas had two clutch aces down the stretch to hold off a Sooner rally. Oklahoma compiled a .460 hitting efficiency in the third frame, committing just two errors in 50 swings, while limiting Texas to a .227 percentage. The Horns trailed 14-6 and held off three OU serves on game point before losing 15-11.

The Sooners led the Horns in several stat categories, owning an 84-75 advantage in kills, outhitting Texas .297 to .223, and knocking down 16.0 blocks to UT's 7.0. But Oklahoma hurt itself with a whopping 18 service errors, including one in game five when OU led 11-8, and surrendered eight service aces on the evening. Weathers had 25 kills and a .321 hitting percentage to lead four Sooners who topped the .300 mark.

No. 12 Texas 3, Oklahoma 2
Gregory Gymnasium (Austin, Texas)

Oklahoma (8-16, 3-11)   15     7   15    7   13

Texas (17-5, 11-3)       3    15   11   15   15

TEXAS: Kills 75 (Tilson 17, Reboucas 16), Digs 76 (Reboucas 18, Gremmel 14), Blocks 7.0 (Aldrich 5).
OKLAHOMA: Kills 84 (Weathers 25, Christman 17), Digs 60 (Newman 16, Kittell 14), Blocks 16.0 (Cook 9, Weathers 6, Bookout 6).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Women's Volleyball Pushes No. 12 Texas To Limit

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