Volleyball Holds Inaugural Postseason Banquet

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma volleyball team held its first annual postseason banquet this past Saturday night to celebrate the accomplishments of the season while recognizing certain individuals along with the seniors of the 2005-06 squad. Season ticket holders, Ace club members, administration, support staff and parents joined the OU volleyball coaches and players for a dinner in the Kerr-McGee Stadium club.

Following dinner, head coach Santiago Restrepo reviewed the season and introduced each player with a brief overview of her accomplishments in 2005. The crowd of 60 also enjoyed a highlight video that captured key moments from this past season.

Year-In-Review (PDF) | 2005 Season Stats

For its inaugural banquet, the coaching staff also handed out awards to various team members. Sophomore transfer Sarah Weiland and freshman Lacy Barnes shared the Most Improved award. Weiland finished the season as the Big 12 leader in aces per game and OU's single season leader for most aces in a game. Barnes was the only OU freshman to start a match in 2005. In her first start in a Sooner uniform, Barnes collected eight digs against the Rice Owls.

The Sooner award, which is given to the athlete that exemplifies excellent work in the classroom as well as a great work ethic on the court, was given to sophomore Lindsay Schuessler. Schuessler has held a perfect 4.0 average during her entire career at Oklahoma.

The final honor handed out was the Most Valuable Player award, which went to junior Eliane Santos. Santos, a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, became the first Oklahoma player to be recognized by Collegiate Volleyball Update when she was selected as one of the top five blockers in the country and named to the Stellar Spikers honorable mention list. After just one year of action at Oklahoma, the 6-2 middle blocker holds OU single season records in solo blocks, block assists and blocks per game. Santos led the Sooners in kills and blocks per game while setting three different single match records.

Capping off the banquet, Restrepo recognized seniors Jennifer Adams and Gabriela Tonon for their dedication to the Sooner program. Adams finished out her career sitting atop many Sooner career charts. She capped off her senior season as the career rally-scoring leader in block assists with 214 in her four-year stint with Oklahoma. In addition, Adams ranks among the top-10 in career solo blocks, hitting percentage and blocks per game average in the rally scoring era.

In only two seasons with Oklahoma, Tonon finished her OU career ranked third on the all-time rally-scoring list with 498 kills. The 6-3 senior outside hitter started more matches than any Sooner this season. In addition, Tonon was one of five Sooners to collect Academic All-Big 12 first team honors.

In his second year at the helm of the Oklahoma volleyball program, Restrepo and the Sooners finished with a 7-22 overall mark and a 2-18 record in Big 12 play. OU faced a tough schedule, playing 10 of its matches against top-25 teams, nine of those were against conference foes.

The Sooners started the season on a three-match winning streak, taking victories over TCU, Indiana and Loyola. The Sooners went on to claim conference wins over Baylor and Texas Tech and non-conference wins over UT-San Antonio and UT-Arlington.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Volleyball Holds Inaugural Postseason Banquet

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