Volleyball Falls to No. 3 Texas

Oct. 31, 2007

AUSTIN - The No. 3 Texas squad was too much for the No. 18 Oklahoma volleyball team Wednesday night as the Horns swept Oklahoma, 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-19) , Wednesday night at Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas. It marked only the fourth time the Sooners have been swept this season.

The Sooners fell to 18-6 on the season and 10-4 in Big 12 play while Texas, who is in a tie for first place in the Big 12 with Nebraska, improved its mark to 17-3 and 13-1 in league play.

The Horns, who came in as the top offensive squad in the Big 12 and the top blocking squad in the conference, recorded a .467 clip in the combined three games against the Sooners with six players hitting above .300 during the match and only six attack errors in the entire match. In addition UT recorded 12.5 blocks to OU's three in the match.

Oklahoma recorded a .138 hitting percentage behind Mariana Blum's 11 kills, the only Sooner to record double-digit kills in the match. Sarah Weiland followed with nine kills while Bridget Laplante added seven kills on a team-high .261 clip.

OU setter Julie Chester played the first game and the first half of the second frame before going down with an injury and being replaced by freshman setter Samantha Arriaran. The rookie saw the most action she's seen all season against Texas as she recorded 18 assists and collected four digs.

Defensively, libero Hannah Sharp led the team with 12 digs while Laplante followed with 11. As a team OU collected 39 digs to UT's 51.

Texas jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first frame, but the Sooners battled back to tie it up at 9-9. However, UT followed that with six straight points to take the 15-9 lead. The Horns continued to roll from there as they claimed a 30-16 victory in frame one. UT, the Big 12's leading offense, recorded a .341 hitting percentage in the first frame while the Sooners only registered a .075 clip. While the Sooners out dug the Horns, 20-17, UT registered 5.5 team blocks in the frame.

Similar to the first set, the Horns jumped out to an early lead as they opened the second set with an 11-4 advantage, forcing the Sooners to call a timeout. However, the UT offense was even more impressive in the second frame as it recorded a .656 clip and only one attack error the entire match. The Horns rolled to a 30-18 victory in the second frame behind Destinee Hooker's seven kills.

The Horns brought momentum into game three as they took the 13-3 advantage and never lost their lead. Oklahoma cut UT's advantage to 10 at 21-11, but OU couldn't ever make a big rally. The Horns took the game and the match with a 30-19 victory in the final frame.

The Sooners will remain on the road this weekend as they head to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Kansas Jayhawks this Saturday at 7 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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