Missouri Downs OU Volleyball In Three

NORMAN, Okla. Travel delays and a late arrival to Columbia, Mo. were not good omens for the Oklahoma volleyball team on Wednesday night. The Sooners played flat and were swept (18-30, 20-30, 18-30) by the No. 24 Missouri Tigers during their final road trip of the season.

Oklahoma fell to 11-17 overall and 3-16 in Big 12 play, while Mizzou remained in a third-place conference tie with No. 18 Texas A&M after improving to 19-7 and 14-5 in league. OU is currently in 10th place in the Big 12 but can move up a spot with a win over Baylor on Senior Night this Saturday.

Missouri jumped out to an early five-point lead in the opener thanks to a flat effort by the Sooners. The Tigers would push the advantage to 10 (24-14) before sealing a one game lead with a 30-18 win.

Box Score

OU relinquished an early three-point lead (5-2) and quickly fell behind after a seven-point Mizzou rally (10-5). The Sooners would get no closer and fall behind two games to none. The story line was simple. MU was hitting .438 through two while OU was swinging at a .014 clip.

The script did not change in the finale when play was close until the five-point mark and then MU's consistent play allowed them to pull away for good.

OU finished in the hitting percentage hole .423 to .091.

Junior Gabriela Tonon lead the squad offensively with nine kills, followed by sophomore Joanna Schmitt with eight and freshman Anna Stadel with seven.

Only two Sooner attackers hit above the .100's. That was accomplished by Laura Tomes who hit .400 with five kills and setter Julie Chester who was perfect on one attempt.

One area that OU equalled MU was in digs. Both squads finished with 42. OU was led by sophomore libero Anna Monsen who had 11 scoops. Monsen, who has five career starts at libero (all coming in the last five outings), extended her streak of double-digit dig efforts to five. Schmitt also contributed 10 digs.

The Sooners will close the 2004 season against Baylor on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Senior Night festivities will kick off at 7 p.m. with OU vets Keri Coats and Stephanie Tengram being honored prior to the first serve.

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