Volleyball In Tournament Championship After Another Sweep

NORMAN, Okla. For the third consecutive match the Oklahoma volleyball team hit over .300 which led to its third consecutive sweep in the Holiday Inn University of Texas Pan-American Invitational in Edinburg, Texas. On Saturday afternoon Grambling State was the victim by a score of 30-26, 30-22, 30-24. The Sooners will play for the tournament championship against host UTPA on Saturday at 7 p.m.

It is no surprise to the Sooner faithful that sophomore Joanna Schmitt led the offensive charge with a match-high 16 kills. Schmitt was successful at a career-best clip of .353 while also tallying five aces and four digs. Schmitt has 13 aces through three matches for a per game average of 1.44.

The only other Sooner to reach double-digits in kills was senior Keri Coats and she also had one of the best outings of her career. Coats knocked home 11 kills and hit .526 (11 kills-1 error-19 total attempts), which is just eight percentage points off her career high. Coats was also one of three Sooners with a match-high four block assists. Sophomore Laura Tomes and freshman Anna Stadel also recorded four in the category.

Box Score

The rookie Stadel continues to impress in limited action. On Saturday afternoon she had five kills on nine attempts for a .556 hitting percentage in two sets of play. Stadel is hitting at a remarkable .461 clip through three collegiate matches.

Sophomore Rachel Jackson and freshman Julie Chester shared the setting duties again. Jackson just topped Chester for the third time with 24 assists, compared to the youngster's 21.

OU head coach Santiago Restrepo had to be happy with his team defensive work at the net as OU tallied a season-high 11 blocks. On the other hand, he was likely disappointed that his team had only 36 digs and allowed Grambling State to hit. 206. Grambling State is the first team to hit .200 against OU this season.

OU hit .308 and has topped the .300 plateau in three consecutive matches for the first time in since 1999. On the season OU is hitting .321.

OU heads into the tournament championship game with a 3-0 record, while Grambling State wrapped up weekend action with a 1-3 mark. UTPA enters the championship game with a 3-0 record as well.