No. 24 OU Rallies Back for 3-2 Win

LUBBOCK, Texas It took nine years and a come-from-behind victory, but the No. 24 Oklahoma volleyball team beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders for the first time in Lubbock, Texas since 1997. The Sooners came back from an 0-2 deficit to win the final three games and claim the 3-2 win over Texas Tech Wednesday night with scores of 21-30, 18-30, 30-25, 30-24 and 15-8.

The win moved the Sooners into second place in the Big 12 standings with a 15-3 overall mark and 7-1 record in conference play. The Red Raiders fell to 9-8 and 2-6 in league action.

“It was an incredible effort by our team tonight as we came back to win the match,” head coach Santiago Restrepo said. “Our passing was off in the first two games, but we settled in. I credit our girls for taking it one game at a time and not worrying when we were down 2-0.”

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The Sooner offense struggled in the first two games as it recorded 23 errors and only hit -.045 and .026 in the games, respectively. However, OU limited its errors to 18 in the final three frames and hit .302 in game four and .360 in game five.

Following the break after the first two games, Texas Tech jumped out to the lead in game three, but Oklahoma would take it back at 13-12 and never looked back as it took frame three, 30-25. The Sooners kept the momentum in the fourth as it broke out to a 10-1 lead after a Rachel Jackson ace and never trailed once in the fourth contest as they pushed the match to a final and deciding game five.

As Tech took the quick 1-0 lead in the final game, OU didn't back down as it used a 4-0 rally to take the lead and used another four-point run to lead 10-4. Following an Oklahoma time out and the Sooners leading 14-8, OU's Sarah Weiland pounded a kill for the five-game win.

Despite, its team hitting percentage of .148, he Oklahoma offense had four Sooners tally double-digit kills with senior Laura Tomes leading the way with 18 kills while fellow senior Joanna Schmitt added 17 and Bridget Laplante and Eliane Santos added 13 and 11, respectively.

Texas Tech won the battle at the net against OU, the conference's top-blocking team, as it recorded 14 blocks to OU's 11. However, Tomes recorded a match-high seven block assists while senior Anna Monsen collected a match-high 28 digs.

With 15 digs, Schmitt collected her eighth double-double of the season while Laplante recorded her third with her 11 digs.

Oklahoma will remain on the road this Saturday as it heads to Manhattan, Kan., to face the Kansas State Wildcats at 1 p.m.