Crimson Win OU Volleyball Scrimmage

NORMAN, Okla. - In its final day of preseason action, the Oklahoma volleyball team held its annual Crimson and Cream scrimmage inside the newly renovated Howard McCasland Field House Saturday, Aug. 20. After dropping the first game, 28-30, the Crimson squad bounced back to sweep the next three games, 30-15, 30-24, 30-18, and claim the match.

“I thought we played very well as a team overall, “ head coach Santiago Restrepo said. “We've been working on a lot of things during preseason and I saw a lot of those things being done out here today. For the first scrimmage against each other, I'm extremely pleased.”

Leading the Crimson squad was preseason All-Big 12 selection junior Joanna Schmitt, who posted a double-double with 19 kills and 13 digs in the intrasquad scrimmage. Schmitt, last year's team captain, ranked among the top 10 in kills in the Big 12 in 2004 and currently holds the school record for career kills (930).

Fellow Crimson teammates junior Rachel Jackson and sophomore Anna Monsen also added 11 digs each for the squad. Returning senior Gabriela Tonon was one of three Crimson members to post double-digit kills with 11.

Newcomers Eliane Santos and Hannah Sharp had strong showings on a Crimson squad comprised of five starters from last year's squad. Santos, a junior transfer from College of Southern Idaho, showed her junior college All-American status after nailing 13 kills while Sharp, a sophomore transfer from Louisville, collected eight digs en route to a Crimson victory.

The Cream squad jumped out on the Crimson early in the first game, but was unable to maintain the momentum for the entire match. Oklahoma newcomers for the cream squad showed promise with their play. Freshman Lacy Barnes added a match-high 17 digs while sophomore transfer Sarah Weiland was one dig shy of a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs. Weiland is a transfer from Tulane University.

“I was very impressed with our newcomers today,” Restrepo said. “I thought Eliane (Santos) and Hannah (Sharp) did a great job playing with the crimson squad and Lacy (Barnes) and Sarah (Weiland) played great defense for the other group. All of them showed they can come in and get the job done.”

Following the scrimmage, all fans enjoyed a picnic with the team and tours of the renovated Field House and locker rooms.

The Sooners will resort back to a regular practice schedule with classes beginning Monday, Aug. 22. Oklahoma opens its season a week from today (Saturday, Aug. 27) against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas at 7 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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