Sooners Late Rally Falls Short

NORMAN, Okla. - Despite a late rally by the Oklahoma volleyball team (0-1), the Sooners dropped their opening-season match to Arkansas, 3-2, in Friday's final match of the Sooner Legends Nike Invitational. The two squads provided great entertainment for the crowd of 424 inside the Howard McCasland Field House as the final and deciding game went to 16 points.

Arkansas jumped out early taking the first two games by close margins, 30-28 and 31-29, but the Sooners wouldn't give up as they rallied back to take games three and four, 30-20 and 30-24. However, with the fifth game tied at 14-14, the Ladybacks used two straight kills to take the game and the match from the Sooners.

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“I thought we really improved in the final three games,” head coach Santiago Restrepo said. “We stepped up our serving and hit our spots so we could get our offense going, but we still must improve on our unforced errors. That is what cost us tonight”

The Sooners tallied 73 total kills to Arkansas' 59, but only hit .169 with 41 attack errors while Arkansas only hit .196 but recorded 27 attack errors.

Several Sooners led the offensive attack as senior captain Joanna Schmitt highlighted the team with a double-double. The outside hitter recorded a match-high 22 kills and 13 digs.

Fellow senior and preseason All-Big 12 selection Eliane Santos recorded 19 kills with a .324 hitting percentage, including five block assists and three block solos on defense.

The lone other Sooner to record double-digit kills was junior Sarah Weiland who recorded 12 kills and added two service aces.

Making her collegiate debut, freshman Bridget Laplante played in the final three games and was impressive, hitting .353 with seven kills and collecting eight digs.

In addition to Santos leading the defensive force at the net, senior libero Anna Monsen added a match-high 20 digs.

The Sooners return to action on Saturday as they play Idaho at 12 p.m. and finish the tournament against North Carolina at 7 p.m. Live stats of all tournament matches can be found at SoonerSports.com.

All tournament action is taking place at the Howard McCasland Field House. Day passes for the Sooner Legends Nike Invitational are $7 for adults and $5 for children. All OU students are admitted free with an OU ID.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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