Volleyball Gets Second Shot At Texas Tech

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma volleyball team (10-13, 2-12 Big 12) will seek revenge when it squares off with Texas Tech (11-11, 6-9) for the second time on Wednesday night at the Howard McCasland Field House. The Sooners traveled to Lubbock and lost in four hard fought games on Sept. 15.

First serve is set for 7 p.m. on Norman Community Night. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive free OU pennants. As usual admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

Texas Tech enters the contest in the midst of a three match losing steak. The Red Raiders have been competitive during the stretch, going four games with Missouri and Colorado. A three game sweep against No. 3 Nebraska was sandwiched between the four game losses.

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As a team Tech's strengths are in back row defense and serving. The Red Raiders are fourth in the Big 12 with 1.58 aces per game, while they rank sixth in digs with a 15.09 mark.

Leading the backrow defense is junior-transfer Desiree Batista. Batista had 26 digs in the four game loss to Missouri last Saturday. She leads the team with an average of 3.53 per. Against the Tigers she shifted from her normal position of outside hitter to libero.

Batista put away 11 kills and had 19 digs in the first meeting between the two squads. Her efforts were offset by 14 attack errors. Three other Red Raiders had at least 10 kills in the win with none having more than five errors.

Senior Kelly Johnson remains Tech's number one option for the fourth consecutive year. She is averaging 4.46 kills per game, which she has spiked to 4.78 during Big 12 matches. The senior outside hitter is hitting .191 on the season, while the Tech is hitting just .133 as a team.

Texas Tech leads the all-time series 33-12 and has won 12 of the last 13 meetings. OU knocked off Tech at home last season to end an 11-match losing streak in the series.
After the midweek match, the Sooner head to Colorado for a Saturday meeting with the Buffaloes. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Coors Event Center.

KEY MATCH UP
OU outside hitter Joanna Schmitt
vs.
Tech outside hitter Kelly Johnson

Stats
Schmitt - 4.04 KPG, .179 %, 2.72 DPG, 0.42 BPG
vs.
Johnson - 4.46 KPG, .191 %, 2.35 DPG, 0.48 BPG

Breakdown
The focal points for both offenses will be easy to pick out on Wednesday night. Kelly Johnson and Joanna Schmitt can thump it. Expect huge swings and expect them often. Both players receive the majority of the scoring opportunities for their respective squads.

In three previous meetings Johnson has outkilled Schmitt by a combined total of 54 to 47. On an individual basis, Johnson has put up better kill numbers in all three matches while Texas Tech has won two of the three contests.

If OU hopes to even the season series with Texas Tech, its efforts will begin with Schmitt. Tech will key on Schmitt and her offensive efficiency will be crucial to the Sooner cause.

Schmitt is hitting .179 on the season while Johnson is hitting .191. If either player can hit in the .300's it will open up lanes for everyone else on the court. A good hitting percentage by OU's top gun will ease the load for fellow left sider Gabriela Tonon and No. 1 middle Anna Stadel.

TAKING ADVANTAGE
Freshman Anna Stadel is making the most of her opportunity to start at middle blocker. An outsider can watch her sky and swing and know that she isn't short on potential, but the high school to college transition is a difficult one. She watched the majority of the first 18 matches of her collegiate career from the bench. Then OU head coach Santiago Restrepo put her into the starting lineup at Iowa State (Oct. 23) and she has showed no signs of relinquishing the duty. Since becoming a starter five matches ago, she is averaging 2.24 kills per game while hitting at a team high clip of .264 and averaging another team high 1.29 blocks per game. Some of Stadel's offensive contributions have to be credited to Julie Chester, who also began starting recently, and worked with Stadel on the second team for the first half of the season.

COMING OUT PARTY
Freshman setter Julie Chester took over the starting reigns 10 matches ago with the daunting challenge of Missouri, No. 5 Nebraska and No. 20 Texas A&M staring her squarely in the face. As expected, the young signal caller had some struggles against three of the Big 12's best teams. Against Colorado on Oct. 16, she had a coming out party with career-highs in every category except solo blocks. She was at it again in the sweep of Iowa State, 42 assists in just three games, and against No. 15 Texas A&M with 49 helpers. The stats don't tell the whole story though. Chester ran the offense with a new found speed and precision, which was a major factor in the upset of Colorado. As for Rachel Jackson, who Chester replaced in the starting lineup, she has become a back row defensive substitution for Gabriela Tonon. It is a role that Jackson flourished in since the change (2.17 DPG). It also adds another dimension to the Sooner defense and offense with a second setter in the lineup.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Volleyball Gets Second Shot At Texas Tech

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