Volleyball Preps For No. 15 Texas A&M

The Oklahoma volleyball continues its homestand with a weekend match against No. 15 Texas A&M. The Aggies are off to a 9-3 (13-5 overall) start in Big 12 play and will visit the Howard McCasland Field House at 7 p.m. The Sooners counter with a 2-10 (10-10 overall) conference record which they hope to improve against the talented A&M squad.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. OU will honor the program's alumni prior to the match, which will also feature a mid-match contest for best Halloween outfit.

The Aggies enter in the midst of a five-match winning streak, while OU has won two of its last four. The big win for the Aggies was knocking off rival Texas (Oct. 26), who was undefeated prior to the meeting The Aggies have won seven of their last eight matches, during which time the only ranked team they have played was the Longhorns.

Live Stats | Complete Match Notes In PDF Format

Junior outside hitter Laura Jones spearheads the Aggie attack with an average of 4.67 kills per game. Jones is also digging 2.88 balls and blocking 0.78 balls per game.

Senior middle blocker Melissa Munsch is just as deadly as her outside counterpart but her kills per game aren't quite as high. Munsch is averaging 3.73 kills per game while hitting .298. Her biggest strength may be at the net where she is blocking a ridiculous 1.75 swings per game.

As of Monday, when the latest Big 12 stats were released, the Aggies and Munsch were ranked No. 2 in blocks per game. A&M is in the top six in every conference statistical category.

A&M owns a 29-1 record in the all-time series with OU. OU's only win in the series came back in 1979, a span of 23 matches.

In the first meeting of this season the Sooners fell in three games (22-30, 18-30, 19-30) at G. Rollie White Coliseum in College Station, Texas.

The Sooners struggled to a .042 hitting percentage while the dynamic duo of Jones and Munsch led the Aggies with 14 kills apiece.

The Sooners finish their three-match home stand on Wednesday, Nov. 3 when they face Texas Christian University. Texas Christian 15-7 on the season and is fifth place in the Conference USA. It marks the first time since 2001 that OU has played a non-conference match in the middle of the Big 12 season.

The Wednesday match is Chamber of Commerce Night and the first 250 fans in attendance will receive free OU calculators. Additionally, fans with valid library cards will be admitted at a discounted rate of $3.

KEY MATCH UP
OU setter Julie Chester
vs.
A&M setter Kari Kelley

Stats
Chester - 9.47 Assists Per Game
vs.
Kelley - 11.51 Assists Per Game

Breakdown
When the Sooners have won their two conference matches, Chester has turned in the best performances of her career. Chester will be starting for the seventh time in her career and for the second time against A&M.

Kelley has been consistent for the potent Aggie offense all season. She ranks seventh in the Big 12 with 11.51 assists per game.

For Kelley she just needs to keep things rolling as the Aggies look for their sixth consecutive win. On the other hand, Chester and company will have to turn up their efforts to upset the highly ranked Aggies.

PEOPLE WATCHING
OU head coach Santiago Restrepo has been out in the community and around campus selling locals on his Oklahoma volleyball team. The marketing has show up in the seats, or at least in the number that are filled. OU has drawn over 500 fans on four occasions this season and is averaging 682 per match. Last season OU averaged 581 fans but only topped 500 on two occasions. One of those matches was a Howard McCasland Field House record of 3,162, which dramatically spiked the average for the 10 match home season.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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