Completed Event: Volleyball at Texas on October 19, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 3
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Volleyball Battles No. 1 Nebraska Tonight
November 02, 2005 | Volleyball
NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma volleyball team will face No. 1 Nebraska for the second time this season when it takes on the top-ranked Huskers this Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. inside the Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb. The Huskers will be the seventh ranked opponent the Sooners have faced this season.
As a unique opportunity to Sooner fans, the match will be shown on national television as aired on CSTV (College Sports Television) on a tape delay at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening. CSTV is available on Cox, Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, Adelphia and Insight cable systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610) and DISH Network (Channel 152).
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OU/NEBRASKA PREVIEW
Earlier this season, the two squads squared off in Norman, resulting in a 3-1 Nebraska win. However, Oklahoma had one of its better performances of the season. The Sooners hit at a .229 mark, its second best outing of the Big 12 season (Oklahoma hit at a .230 clip against Colorado). In addition, three Sooners tallied double-digit kills with Eliane Santos leading the way with 21 kills on a .457 clip. Sophomore Sarah Weiland added 12 kills and senior Gabriela Tonon pounded 10 kills on a career-high .368 clip.
Nebraska has been nothing short of dominant this season after tallying nine victories over top-25 teams, including five wins over top-10 teams. Nebraska, the preseason No. 1 choice and favorite for the Big 12 title, has swept its last six opponents and has won in three games in 16 of its 21 matches this year.
The Huskers supremacy is easily explained as they lead the Big 12 in offensive and defensive categories. NU's strongest stat is its blocks per game (4.26), which ranks first nationally. Nebraska is also holding its opponents to a .119 hitting percentage, which ranks first among all Big 12 schools.
Offensively, Nebraska is impressive with its 17.20 kills per game mark (fourth in the nation) and its Big 12 leading .328 hitting percentage (fourth in the nation).
NU's lineup is loaded with three All-Americans in Melissa Elmer, Sarah Pavan and Jennifer Saleaumua. The defensive effort is led by Elmer who owns a nation-leading 2.32 blocks per game while four other Huskers on the squad average more than 1.00 blocks per game.
Pavan, a 6-5 outside hitter, continues to have a stellar season as she guides the NU balanced offense with a team-leading 3.77 kills per game while hitting at a .356 clip. Pavan is one of five Huskers in the starting lineup that is averaging more than 2.0 kills per game.
The emergence of newcomer Jordan Larson has also been significant to the Nebraska offense. The 6-2 freshman middle blocker is averaging 3.27 kills per game and leads the squad in aces with 0.34 per game.
Nebraska runs a 6-2 offense with setters Maggie Griffin and Dani Busboom, who are averaging 7.64 and 6.30 assists per game, respectively.
Saleaumua leads the Husker defense in digs with 3.87 per game while Larson and Christina Houghtelling collect 2.78 and 2.43 digs per game, respectively.
The Sooners will need to have another stellar night against the Huskers to pull off the upset. Santos, who is averaging 4.00 KPG (fifth in the Big 12), had success against the Huskers and has been a staple to the Sooner offense this season.
Look for Joanna Schmitt (3.00 KPG) and Weiland (2.29 KPG) to also be leading contributors to the Sooner offense.
Oklahoma runs its offense similar to Nebraska, a 6-2 set. Setters Julie Chester (6.28 APG) and Rachel Jackson (8.01 APG) will share the duties.
Defensively, Oklahoma had a solid match against the Huskers in the earlier meeting with 11 team blocks. Sophomore Anna Stadel, who is averaging 1.16 blocks per game, led the squad with eight blocks in the match. Santos (1.49 BPG) also needs to have a strong performance at the net to stop the high-powered Husker offense.
OU VS. NEBRASKA ALL-TIME SERIES
The Sooners will be looking for their first win against Nebraska since 1997 when OU swept NU in Norman. The Huskers lead the all-time series 62-6. In matches played in Lincoln, NU leads 23-1. The lone Sooner victory in Lincoln came on Sept. 21, 1987 with a 3-1 OU win.
LAST TIME OUT VS. THE HUSKERS
The Sooners played one of their best matches all season in a four-game loss (30-28, 25-30, 29-31, 20-30) to the Huskers. OU recorded one of its best hitting percentages of the season with a .229 clip, the highest NU had allowed of any opponent at the time.
Individually, junior Eliane Santos posted a season-high clip of .457 while pounding a match-high 21 kills. Sophomore Sarah Weiland added 12 kills while senior Gabriela Tonon put away 10 kills at the net on a .368 clip, a career high for the outside hitter.
NEXT UP FOR THE SOONERS
OU will return home for a two-match home stand to meet the No. 13 Missouri Tigers at 4 p.m. at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman, Okla. Following the Missouri match up, Oklahoma will take on Kansas on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in Norman.
TEXAS A&M LEFTOVERS
The Sooners suffered a 3-0 (22-30, 24-30, 18-30) sweep at Texas A&M this past Friday. Oklahoma was unable to continue its momentum after earning its first Big 12 win of the season with a victory against Texas Tech earlier in the week. OU only hit at a .130 clip and had no Sooners tally double-digit kills for only the second time this season. Junior Eliane Santos led the low-scoring offense with nine kills in the match.
MONSEN ON A ROLL
Since entering the lineup as the libero in the past three matches, junior Anna Monsen has been impressive. The defensive specialist has opened the match at libero in the past two of three matches and has averaged 4.82 digs per game during that time. In OU's win over Texas Tech, Monsen set a five-game rally-scoring record with 26 digs against the Red Raiders.
SOONERS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
The Sooners will be looking for their first win against a ranked opponent since 1998 (a victory over then-No. 22 Kansas State). Nebraska will be the 49th ranked opponent OU has played since that streak began.
RECORD SETTING MATCH
The Sooners set three records in their win over Texas Tech, adding to the seven they had already set this season. Adding to Anna Monsen's record night, Anna Stadel and Eliane Santos recorded 10 block assists each, eclipsing the previous mark for a rally-scoring five-game match of 9. With the middle blockers' efforts, the squad also set a team block assist mark with 42 block assists in the match.
OFFENSIVE COMPARISON
Since the arrival of head coach Santiago Restrepo last season, the Oklahoma statistics continue to improve. In 2004, OU improved in every major statistical category. The same can be said in 2005. Through 22 matches of the 29-match season, Oklahoma has made improvements in every offensive category. Below is a comparison of the 2004 season stats with OU's numbers so far this season:
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SANTOS VS. TOP NEWCOMERS
Junior transfer Eliane Santos, a former College of Southern Idaho product, is making a strong case for the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year. The following is a look at where she compares to other top newcomers or freshmen around the league:
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STADEL TOPS RECORD BOOK
After posting one solo block against Texas A&M, sophomore Anna Stadel became the OU career rally-scoring leader in solo blocks with 28. The previous record was held by Candice Woods (2001-02) who had 27 in her career.
WEILAND = ACE
Sophomore transfer Sarah Weiland, a former Tulane product, has been a strong impact to the Sooner offense from behind the line. The outside hitter is leading the Big 12 in service aces with 39 produced this season. Behind Weiland's 0.49 per game mark, the Sooners are ranked fourth in the Big 12 (1.57 APG). Weiland has produced an ace in 16 of the 22 matches this season.
SOONERS TAKE NO. 1 HUSKERS TO FOUR
Oklahoma became only the third team (at the time) to take No. 1 Nebraska to four games this season in a tough 3-1 loss to the Huskers at the Howard McCasland Field House (9/28). In addition, OU was the first Big 12 team to take Nebraska to four games. Currently, only five teams have taken the Huskers to more than three games.
WEILAND MOVES TO NO. 2 ON LIST
After posting 39 aces in her first 22 matches at Oklahoma, sophomore transfer Sarah Weiland has already moved into the No. 2 spot on OU's single season list. Weiland leads the Big 12 with 0.49 per game and only needs five more to break the single season aces mark held by Jessica Barney in 2001.
NEWCOMER CONTRIBUTION
The Sooners have had multiple newcomers who have been strong additions to the Sooner lineup. Sophomore transfers Hannah Sharp (Louisville) and Sarah Weiland (Tulane) have been consistent leading contributors to the Sooners defensively and offensively while junior transfer Eliane Santos (College of Southern Idaho) has been a dominating force.
The following is a look at what each newcomer is contributing:
Eliane Santos - 4.00 kills per game; KPG ranks fifth among all Big 12 players; leads team in blocks with 1.42 per game; sixth among Big 12 players in BPG; averaging 1.36 digs per game.
Hannah Sharp - team leader in digs (2.70 per game)
Sarah Weiland - leads Big 12 in aces with 0.49 per game; broke OU and Big 12 record with nine aces against Loyola; averaging 2.29 kills per game.
BIG 12 DOMINANCE
The Big 12 Conference is making a strong case that it's one of the best volleyball leagues in the country. This week the conference has four teams in the AVCA Top-25 poll with No. 1 Nebraska leading the charge. In addition, Colorado is receiving votes in the top-25 poll.
SCHMITT BREAKS 1,000 MARK
In her first match back as the Sooners' starting outside hitter (9/17) after being sidelined due to an ankle injury, junior Joanna Schmitt pounded 12 kills which set her among a new category, the 1,000 kills career mark. The preseason All-Big 12 selection already led the rally-scoring era in career kills and now owns a current mark of 1,063.
SANTOS AND SOONERS SET RECORDS
In only her sixth match as a Sooner, junior transfer Eliane Santos set an OU rally-scoring record with four solo blocks against Kansas (9/17). The previous mark for a rally-scoring match was three, held by several Sooners. In addition, Santos' efforts led the team to set a rally-scoring record with eight solo blocks by the squad. The previous mark was seven set against the exact same opponent, Kansas, in 2001.
SANTOS SHINES IN OPENER
In her first match as a Sooner, two-time junior college All-American (College of Southern Idaho) Eliane Santos posted a double-double with 19 kills and 12 digs for the Sooners against UTA (9/7) The junior middle blocker led all players in kills and tied teammate Joanna Schmitt's mark for the most kills in a three-game rally-scoring match at OU. Schmitt set the record against Indiana earlier this year.
SCHMITT EARNS ALL-TOURNEY HONORS
Despite not playing in the final match of the Hampton Inn Bama Bash due to injury, Oklahoma junior outside hitter Joanna Schmitt was still selected to the Hampton Inn Bama Bash All Tournament team for her efforts against Indiana and Loyola-Chicago on Friday, Sept. 2. Schmitt hit at an impressive .547 clip in tournament action while pounding 42 kills and collecting 16 digs in two matches.
In addition, The preseason All-Big 12 team member pounded a match-high 19 kills against Loyola-Chicago while hitting at an impressive .567 clip, a new career high. Schmitt's previous career high in hitting percentage was .486, set against Oral Roberts last September.
Schmitt set a new three-game rally-scoring record with her 19 kills. Schmitt held the previous mark of 18 that was set her freshman season against Drake.
WEILAND SERVES UP RECORD
Sophomore transfer Sarah Weiland, a Tulane product, broke all sorts of records after serving up nine aces against Loyola-Chicago Friday afternoon. Weiland set an Oklahoma sideout-scoring record as well as a new rally-scoring record.
Former Sooner Sheena Werling held the rally-scoring record with six aces while Gloria Holcomb held the sideout record with eight. In addition, the Sooners totaled 17 aces which set a new team-rally scoring record.
Weiland also set new Big 12 records with her strong performance. She now holds the four-game rally scoring aces record mark in the conference. The previous record was eight and held by Katia Lara of Texas (2000). Currently, Weiland leads all Big 12 players with 15 aces on the season (1.25 per game).
SCHMITT SETS CAREER MARK
It only took her one match into the 2005 season to break the rally-scoring career record in digs for the Sooners. Junior Joanna Schmitt, a preseason All Big 12 selection, set the new career bench mark of 622 digs after collecting a team-high 13 digs in her first outing of the season (8/27).
The Cottage Grove, Wis., native already owns the rally-scoring career mark in kills with a current tally of 990 and two more seasons ahead of her.
Additionally, Schmitt is on pace to break the rally-scoring aces mark (73) and needs only 14 more to do so. Schmitt led the team in aces in 2004 after recording 20 over the course of last season.
SCHMITT NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12
Oklahoma volleyball standout Joanna Schmitt has been chosen as a preseason All-Big 12 selection for 2005. The 5-10 junior outside hitter was picked by the league's head coaches and was one of 13 players voted to the squad.
As last year's team captain Schmitt nailed a team-leading 425 kills for an average of 4.01 kills per game, which ranked ninth among all Big 12 players. The Cottage Grove, Wis., native also produced 13 double-doubles on the season, led the team in service aces with 20 and ranked second on the team in digs with 285.
“This is a compliment to Joanna and how hard she works,” head coach Santiago Restrepo said. “All the coaches recognize what a great job she has done for us. I know she wants to improve this season and show that she belongs among this group.”
SOONERS PICKED TO FINISH NINTH
In the Big 12 Coaches Preseason Poll, the OU volleyball squad was picked to finish in ninth place in the conference race. The Sooners finished ninth in 2004 above Baylor and Iowa State. Defending Big 12 Champion Nebraska and current No. 1 in the country was chosen as the preseason favorite for the conference crown.
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