No. 25 Volleyball Sweeps Texas Tech

Oct. 10, 2007

LUBBOCK, Texas - Recording its first sweep of the Big 12 season, the No. 25 Oklahoma volleyball team topped Texas Tech, 3-0 (30-28, 30-26, 30-18), Wednesday night in Lubbock, Texas. The Sooners improved to 15-3 and 7-1 in the Big 12 while the Red Raiders fell to 7-11 and 1-8 in the league.

"I was glad we came out strong in the first game and went on from there to earn the sweep," head coach Santiago Restrepo said. "I thought our middle blockers were very solid tonight, both offensively and defensively."

OU's middle blockers Anna Stadel and Francie Ekwerekwu led the offense for the Sooners as Stadel recorded a match-high 12 kills while Ekwerekwu followed with 11 kills on a match-high .400 hitting percentage.

The Oklahoma offense recorded a .169 hitting percentage as Mariana Blum and Sarah Weiland added eight and seven kills, respectively. Chester recorded 40 assists in the three-game match while also adding three kills.

Defensively, the Sooners held the Red Raiders to a .060 hitting percentage, its lowest for any OU opponent this season. Oklahoma recorded nine blocks behind Ekwerekwu's five block assists and Bridget Laplante's four block assists. Stadel was also solid at the net with three block assists and a solo block.

Both squads collected 39 digs each as libero Hannah Sharp tallied a match-high 13 digs while Blum added 11 for the defense.

The Sooners led in the beginning of game one as it took the 9-6 lead. However, the Red Raiders went on a 5-0 rally with three kills and two blocks to take the lead at 11-9. Oklahoma slowly fought back to take the lead at 20-18 after a 5-0 run. It turned back in Tech's direction as it followed with a 4-0 run to take the 22-20 lead. Trailing 26-24, OU used a 3-0 run to take the lead at 27-26 and force a Tech timeout. TTU tied it up again at 27-27, but the Red Raiders followed with two hitting errors to give the 29-28 lead to OU. At OU's game point, Tech added a kill to close it to one but Sarah Weiland's kill on the next play gave the game to the Sooners, 30-28.

The second frame was similar to the first with both teams going back and forth. Keyed by Blum and Ekwerekwu's two kills each, the Sooners went on a key 6-0 run to take the 17-13 lead. Oklahoma continued its momentum as it extended its lead to 22-15. However, the Red Raiders came roaring back with a 4-0 run to cut OU's lead to three at 22-19. The Sooners never lost their lead though as Blum's kill ended the second frame, 30-26, and gave the 2-0 lead to Oklahoma. Ekwerekwu's six kills in the second set led the Sooners to a .265 hitting percentage in the game.

The Sooners came out of the break strong with momentum as they opened game three with a lead and recorded a huge 10-0 run to jump out to the 16-6 advantage. The Red Raiders couldn't come back from the deficit as OU went on to win the game and match with a 30-18 win in frame three. The Oklahoma offense recorded a .333 hitting percentage, led by Stadel's five kills.

The Sooners will look to defend their 15-match home-winning streak this Saturday as they host No.1 and undefeated Nebraska (15-0, 8-0 Big 12) at 1 p.m. in the McCasland Field House. The early match time gives OU fans the opportunity to catch the volleyball match prior to OU's football game against Missouri at 5:30 p.m.

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