Four Sooners To Retire Home Volleyball Jerseys Saturday :: Lindsay Hoyt, Jessica Barney, Megan O'Connell and Denise Griffin will play their final match at 2 p.m. Saturday inside the Howard McCasland Field House.

	">Printer-Friendly Format ">E-mail this article Senior Jessica Barney will be the featured athlete in the game program on Senior Day.

Four Sooners To Retire Home Volleyball Jerseys Saturday

Lindsay Hoyt, Jessica Barney, Megan O'Connell and Denise Griffin will play their final match at 2 p.m. Saturday inside the Howard McCasland Field House.

Nov. 22, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma volleyball team will honor four seniors in its home season finale against Colorado at 2 p.m. Saturday. Graduating from the OU volleyball program are Lindsay Hoyt, Jessica Barney, Megan O'Connell and Denise Griffin. The Senior Day festivities will take place prior to the match. The match is also part of the promotions for Super Sooner Saturday and all spectators will be admitted free.

"This is going to be a significant loss for our program," said OU Head Coach Kalani Mahi. "Obviously when you lose four players you're going to lose stats. It will especially hurt us on the defensive end. Were also losing two captains and four leaders. They knew how to handle the stress of the Big 12 and had those intangible qualities you hope to see in your veterans. We are sad to see them go it will be a very emotional day for all involved."

Head Coach Kalani Mahi and staff will have the toughest time replacing setter and co-captain Jessica Barney. Barney played in every game last year and has missed just two matches this season. The quarterback of the OU squad has continually improved under Mahi's supervision. This season she has increased her assists per game from 9.30 in 2001 to 9.78.

"Jessica's loss is especially going to hurt us," said Mahi. "She was a our captain on the court and off. She ran our offense and was a very important leader to this team."

Leaving with Barney is fellow co-captain Lindsay Hoyt. Hoyt was a staple of the Oklahoma lineup last season, when she played primarily as an outside hitter. This year the Grapevine, Texas native has taken on a new role. Hoyt transitioned to the role of serving and defensive specialist with hardly a bump in the road. Hoyt is still one of the most consistent attackers on the squad and has been called upon for a starting spot several times this year.

Megan O'Connell transferred into the OU volleyball program literally hours before the start of fall workouts. O'Connell adjusted quickly, claiming a starting spot as a left side attacker and becoming the main catalyst in the Sooner offensive attack. O'Connell leads the team in kills per game with 3.03 and hitting percentage at .233 (261K-91E-730TA). She began her career at Illinois State with the Mahi's and ended her career as a team leader on the OU squad.

Denise Griffin transferred in from the JUCO volleyball hot-bed of Utah and proved to be one of the Sooners most versatile players in her two years. Griffin, a outside hitter at Eastern Utah, began her career in Norman at the same position, averaging 1.94 kills per game last season. She also averaged 2.24 digs per game, which led to her fill-in role at libero this season. Griffin stepped in for freshman Tara Birkinbine and was consistent at libero. She still leads OU in digs per game at 2.78 despite the fact that she moved back to right side hitter seven matches ago.

The four departing seniors account for 4.22 kills per game, 10.4 assists per game, 7.34 digs per game and 1.05 blocks per game. In other words the seniors account for 34 percent of OU's kills, 92 percent of the assists, 55 percent of the digs and 55 percent of the blocks.

"I am very confident these girls will make a productive transition into a their nonathletic lives," said Mahi. "They all have been excellent students and that has helped our transition as coaches."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Four Sooners To Retire Home Volleyball Jerseys Saturday :: Lindsay Hoyt, Jessica Barney, Megan O'Connell and Denise Griffin will play their final match at 2 p.m. Saturday inside the Howard McCasland Field House.

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