Volleyball's Streak Snapped By Tech

LUBBOCK, Texas The Oklahoma volleyball team's eight-match winning streak was snapped at the hands of Texas Tech on Wednesday night in Lubbock, Texas. First year head coach Santiago Restrepo's Big 12 debut was marred by a sloppy performance that led to a 30-27, 30-26, 21-30, 30-26 loss to the Lady Raiders. OU falls to 8-1 on the season and 0-1 in Big 12 play, while Texas Tech improves to 5-2 and 1-0 in conference action.

Sloppy passing and serving were the downfall of OU in the first two games. In the opening session OU used a 7-1 run to take a 12-6 lead but couldn't overcome some erratic passing in the latter portion of the game. In the second game Tech had more service errors - seven to five - but OU couldn't capitalize with an offense that only put away seven kills.

At 16-10 in the third game the Sooners had already equaled their game two total of seven kills. The noticeable difference was in offensive transitioning, which was smooth for most of the session thanks to more accurate passes. It led to a decisive 30-21 win and swung momentum back into the visitor's favor.

Box Score

At 11-11 in the fourth game OU had four blocks and had already tied the rally-scoring four game record with 30 block assists. Despite the stuffs at the net a string of errors had the Sooners down 22-16. OU battled back to a 24-22 but couldn't get any closer in the 30-26 loss.

For the fifth consecutive match Gabriela Tonon topped double-digits in kills with 12 and notched her second double-double thanks to 10 digs. Senior Keri Coats put-away 12 kills - topping double-digits for sixth time in the last seven matches - and set a career-high with 11 digs. Sophomore Joanna Schmitt recorded her team-high fourth double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.

For the first time this season OU had five players with double-digit digs. Joining the aforementioned trio were setter Rachel Jackson with 11 and senior Stephanie Tengram with 14.

The one area that Restrepo's squad excelled was at the net where they had an OU rally-scoring four game record 32 block assists and a team total of 17 stuffs. Tops on the squad in block assists was Laura Tomes with nine. She was followed by Jennifer Adams and Keri Coats, who had seven each.

OU is just 2-7 in Big 12 openers.

Next up for OU is the Big 12 home opener against Iowa State, who lost in four games at home to No. 12 Texas A&M tonight. Iowa State is 6-2 on the season and 0-1 in Big 12 play. Admission to the match is $5 for adults and $3 for children. The first 300 fans in attendance will receive free OU/Big 12 t-shirts.

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