OU's Win Streak Snapped at Texas

AUSTIN The No. 23 Oklahoma volleyball team had its eight-match winning streak snapped Saturday night against No. 9 Texas (13-5, 8-3 Big 12) in a five-game match (27-30, 25-30, 30-27, 30-25, 11-15) in Austin, Texas. The Sooners own a 17-4 overall mark and a 9-2 conference record and still sit in second place in the Big 12 standings behind No.1 and undefeated Nebraska. The loss marked OU's first conference road loss of the season.

Senior outside hitter Joanna Schmitt highlighted the match as she collected the 1,000th dig of her career in the second game and finished the match with 16 total digs and now owns a career total of 1,010. The senior is the lone player in the OU rally-scoring era to own 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. Additionally, she is one of only four Sooners in the 32-year history of the program to accomplish the 1,000 kill and 1,000 dig feat.

Box Score | Cumulative Stats | 2006 Schedule

In addition to her historic feat, Schmitt and freshman Bridget Laplante were the leaders for the Sooners offensively. Schmitt recorded her 10th double-double of the season with a 20-killl, 16-dig performance while Laplante also notched a double-double with a team-high 21 kills and added 14 digs.

The biggest difference in the match was the team blocks as Texas out blocked Oklahoma, the top-blocking team in the Big 12. The Horns recorded 17 blocks to OU's seven.

Defensively, libero Anna Monsen recorded a match-high 21 digs while senior Laura Tomes led the effort at the net with four block assists.

“It was a very competitive match between two good squads and I tip my hat to Texas as it was able to play a strong fifth game to win the match,” head coach Santiago Restrepo said. “I felt like we had them in the first game and we just gave it away and that made a difference in the momentum tonight.”

In the first frame, Oklahoma jumped out on top of its Red River rival and used a 6-1 run to push the lead to 9-3. OU took its largest lead of the game at 19-10 after an Eliane Santos kill. However, the Horns used a 6-0 run to tie it up at 24-24 and UT went on to take its first lead of the game at 26-25 and wouldn't look back. OU rallied back to tie it up at 27-27 but a kill by UT's Destinee Hooker and two straight Sooner attack errors, Texas took the 1-0 lead with a 30-27 win in frame one.

Texas came out with the momentum in game two, but Oklahoma used a 4-0 run, highlighted by a Santos kill and a Laplante kill, to take its first lead of the game at 12-9 but couldn't hold on as UT tied it up at 14-14. The game went back and forth from there as there were four more ties before UT took its final lead at 20-19 as it went on to win 30-25.

Oklahoma rallied back in the third game, taking its first lead of the set at 22-21. However, similar to the previous two games, UT tied it up two more times before the Sooners jumped out to the 27-25 lead it would not lose. A kill by Bridget Laplante gave the Sooners the 30-27 win and took the match to a fourth game.

In game four, OU took the initial lead but the Horns used a 6-0 run to take the 6-2 lead. The Sooners didn't take the lead back until 20-19 and used a 4-0 run to push the lead to 27-22. Three straight points by the Sooners to end the game, including the game-winning kill by Laplante, pushed the match to a deciding game five.

UT took the 2-0 lead in the final frame, but OU tied it up with two straight kills by Weiland and Schmitt, but couldn't get a lead on the Horns. The Horns stretched their lead out to 10-6 before Oklahoma called a time out. OU responded pushed it to 10-7 with another Schmitt kill, but UT answered with a kill and an attack error by OU extended UT's lead to 12-7.

An ace by Rachel Jackson and a UT service error squeezed UT's lead to 12-9, but the Horns rallied after two straight attack errors by the Sooners gave UT the 14-9. However, two straight attack errors by UT gave the Sooners hope as the score was 14-11. A service error by Schmitt ended the match UT won game five 15-11.

The Sooners remain on the road this Wednesday for a rematch with the Kansas Jayhawks at 7 p.m. in Lawrence, Kan. The Sooners swept the Jayhawks two weeks ago at the Field House.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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