Volleyball Falls to No. 1 Nebraska

Oct. 13, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team was too much for the No. 25 Oklahoma volleyball team as the Sooners were swept by the Huskers Saturday afternoon at the McCasland Field House by scores of 30-25, 30-21 and 30-25, in front of 1181 fans.

The loss ended OU's 15-match win streak that dated back to the 2006 season. Prior to today, OU's last loss at home was also to No. 1 Nebraska on Sept. 16, 2006. The Sooners fell to 15-4 on the season and 7-2 in Big 12 action. The top-ranked Huskers improved their perfect record to 16-0 and 9-0 in the Big 12. In addition, 15 of NU's 16 matches this season have all been sweeps.

"I thought there were a few rotations that were the difference in the match," head coach Santiago Restrepo said. "Nebraska is a very good team, but I also don't think that we played our best tonight. Our defense can play a lot better than it did today, but I also have to give credit to Nebraska for that."

The Nebraska offense, which is tops in the nation, recorded a .316 hitting percentage behind 2006 National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan, who recorded a match-high 16 kills on a .351 hitting percentage.

The Nebraska defense had been holding opponents to a Big 12-best .125 hitting percentage, but the Oklahoma offense was able to record a .177 clip against the Huskers.

Bridget Laplante led the Oklahoma offense with her 10th double-double of the season. Laplante recorded a team-high 10 kills and also collected a team-high 12 digs. Mariana Blum followed with eight kills on a .300 hitting percentage while Anna Stadel and Sarah Weiland added seven kills each.

Freshman setter Samantha Arriaran saw her most playing time of the season as she recorded eight assists in the final third game.

Defensively, the Huskers out blocked the Sooners, nine to four. Stadel and Blum tallied three block assists each for the defense. Blum also collected 11 digs in the back row.

Oklahoma stayed with the Huskers in game one as the frame saw 16 ties and 10 lead changes. Oklahoma cut NU's lead to 24-23 in game one, but Nebraska went on a 6-2 run to clinch the game. Nebraska only hit a .182 clip in the first fame while the Sooners only recorded a .136 hitting percentage. Weiland led the OU offense in the first frame with five kills.

Nebraska's offense took off in frame two as the Huskers hit .415 to OU's .103. Four different Huskers tallied at least four kills while Stadel led OU in frame two with three kills. Nebraska also recorded four blocks to OU's one in the frame. The Huskers took the early lead at 2-1 and never trailed again in the set.

Led by Arriaran, Oklahoma recorded its best offensive outing of the match in the third frame. The Sooners recorded a .293 hitting percentage as Blum led the way with five kills on a .625 hitting percentage. Oklahoma closed the gap in the third frame at 21-20, but couldn't ever get over the hump as Nebraska won the match with a sweep.

Oklahoma's challenging schedule continues this week as it hosts No. 7 Texas next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and continues its home stand next Friday, Oct. 19 with a 6 p.m. contest against No. 16 Kansas State. Both matches will be played at the McCasland Field House.

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