Volleyball Edges TCU, 3-2

Oct. 3, 2007

FORT WORTH - Led by Sarah Weiland's career-high 24 kills and Julie Chester's career-high 70 assists, the Oklahoma volleyball team won another five-game match as the Sooners knocked off TCU, 3-2 (29-31, 30-25, 18-30, 30-27, 17-15), Wednesday night in Fort Worth, Texas.

It marked the fourth time in the last five matches the Sooners have gone to five games. OU improved to 13-3 overall as it stepped out of Big 12 play on Wednesday night. The Horned Frogs fell to 15-5 on the season.

"I was very happy with our team defense tonight," head coach Santiago Restrepo said. "We had five different players with double-digit digs and I think that was the difference in the match. Offensively, we recorded 20 more kills than them which was also key in the win."

Defensively, the Sooners out dug the Frogs, 81-65. TCU won the battle at the net with 13 blocks compared to OU's three. Weiland was also stellar on the defensive end as she collected a career-high 20 digs, notching her first double-double of the season.

Defensive specialist Lacy Barnes followed with 16 digs while libero Hannah Sharp followed with 15 and Chester (11) and Mariana Blum (10) also added double-digit digs.
Weiland's career night started on the offensive end as she recorded a .386 hitting percentage. Ekwerekwu followed with 19 kills and Blum added her 11th double-double of the year with 18 kills. Middle blocker Anna Stadel was also solid on the offensive end for the Sooners with 15 kills on a .300 hitting percentage.

Chester's career-high 70 assists led the team to a .231 hitting percentage while she also added three aces.

In a crucial game five, the two squads battled back and forth with OU leading 8-7 at the break. TCU took its lead at 11-10 as OU called a timeout. Weiland's kill following the timeout tied it up at 11-11, but TCU got the next two points to take the 13-11 lead. OU tied it up again with two straight points at 13-13. An OU attack error by Jackie Fotu and an OU kills by Stadel tied it up again at 14-14. The two squads evened it up again at 15-15, but Ekwerekwu added a kill and Blum produced the match-winner as the Sooners won, 17-15.

Trailing 10-8 in the first game, Chester sparked an OU 4-0 run with her two aces as OU took the lead 12-10. The Horned Frogs tied it up at 13-13 but OU's Weiland and Stadel each added a kill and combined for a block to put OU back on top 17-14, forcing the Frogs to call a timeout. TCU battled back later in the frame with six unanswered points and taking the lead back at 23-22, which forced OU to call its first timeout. Oklahoma tied it up again at 29-29, but a TCU kill and a Chester setting error gave the first game to the Frogs, 31-29. Stadel and Ekwerekwu were OU's top offensive producers in the first frame with six and five kills, respectively.

Oklahoma jumped out to a 10-5 lead in frame two and took control the rest of the way. The Sooners continued to build a steady lead as they took the 22-13 advantage before TCU called a timeout. Stadel's kills ended the frame at 30-25 and tied the match up at 1-1. Weiland had the offense clicking as she contributed nine kills in frame two as the Sooners recorded a .372 hitting percentage.

The Sooners jumped out to the 10-6 lead but four straight TCU points tied it up at 10-10. A 6-0 run by the Frogs gave TCU the 17-12 lead and forced an Oklahoma timeout. Oklahoma couldn't get the lead back as it cut it to 20-15 but TCU kept pushing and jumped out to a 26-16 advantage. TCU took the 2-1 lead in the match after winning game three, 30-18. The Oklahoma offense was held to a .158 hitting percentage in the game while the TCU offense was on fire with a .410 clip and four aces.

Similar to game three, the Sooners jumped out to the early 8-4 lead. However, TCU continued to chip away as it went on a 6-0 run to take the lead at 15-11. The Sooners responded with five straight kills to take the lead at 16-15. Tied up at 20-20, the two squads traded points back and forth until OU took the 26-24 lead. The Frogs cut it to 27-26 but the Sooners went on a 3-1 rally and pushed it to a game five with a 30-27 win.

The Sooners return to Big 12 play this Saturday at the Howard McCasland Field House. Oklahoma will host Iowa State at 7 p.m.

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