No. 18 Volleyball Heads to Kansas

Nov. 2, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 18 Oklahoma volleyball team (18-6, 10-4 Big 12) will aim to get back on the winning track Saturday as it heads to Lawrence, Kan., to face the Kansas Jayhawks (10-14, 3-11). First serve between OU and KU is set for 7 p.m. Oklahoma knocked off the Jayhawks earlier this season in Norman, 3-1.

LIVE STATS
Live Stats of Saturday night's match will be available at www.SoonerSports.com.

THE MATCH UP
Both squads enter Saturday night's match up following a loss. The Sooners fell to No. 3 Texas on Wednesday while Kansas suffered its sixth straight loss, a 3-1 loss to Baylor. Despite OU's loss to Texas on Wednesday night the Sooners still remain in third place in the Big 12 standings. The Jayhawks, owning a 3-11 mark in Big 12 play, sit in ninth place in the Big standings. KU's three victories in conference play this season include Texas Tech, Colorado and Missouri, whom the Sooners lost to earlier this season. Saturday night's match will mark the second meeting between the two squads as OU knocked off Kansas earlier this season, 3-1, in Norman.

SCOUTING KANSAS
Despite KU's 3-11 mark in Big 12 play and OU's 10-4 record in the league, the two squads have very similar conference statistics. Oklahoma arrives in Lawrence hitting .190 in Big 12 action while the Jayhawks own a .172 clip. Leading the KU offense during the conference season has been Jenna Kaiser with 2.92 kills per game. In the earlier match against the Sooners this season, Kaiser led KU with 16 kills. In addition to Kaiser, Emily Brown has been a big catalyst for the Jayhawks. Brown recorded her third consecutive triple-double Wednesday night as she leads the squad in assists per game (6.51) while also averaging 2.78 kills per game in Big 12 action.

Defensively, Kansas is averaging 2.27 blocks per game in league action compared to OU's 2.13 per game mark. Leading the defensive effort up front is Natalie Uhart, who is averaging a team-best 1.19 blocks per game in Big 12 action. Uhart didn't see any time against the Sooners earlier this season. In the back row, KU is collecting 15.06 digs per game in conference play with libero Melissa Manda leading the way with 4.00 digs per game and Brown following with 2.90 digs per game.

LAST TIME THEY MET
OU and Kansas met earlier this season in Norman in OU's Big 12 home opener on Sept. 15. The Sooners came out on top with a 3-1 win (30-24, 30-20, 27-30, 30-17) over the Jayhawks. The Sooner offense recorded a .264 hitting percentage against KU as three Sooners recorded double-digit kills. In addition, the Sooner defense recorded 11 blocks. Francie Ekwerekwu highlighted the offensive effort with 15 kills on a .480 hitting percentage and also added five block assists and a solo block.

SERIES RECORDS
Oklahoma leads Kansas in the all-time series 40-25 and has won the last three straight against KU. However, in the Big 12 era KU leads 16-7. In matches in Lawrence, KU edges OU 14-13.

SOONERS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Oklahoma owns a 3-4 record against ranked opponents with two five-game road wins over then-No. 25 Texas A&M and No. 16 Kansas State and another defeat over No. 14 Kansas State in Norman. OU dropped a non-conference match to No. 18 San Diego and was swept by No. 1 Nebraska, No. 6 Texas (in Norman) and No. 3 Texas (in Austin). OU's upset over No. 8 Texas last season marked the school's first win over a ranked team since 1998.

NO. 3 TEXAS TOO MUCH FOR NO. 18 OKLAHOMA
The Sooners suffered only their fourth sweep of the season Wednesday night as they lost to No. 3 Texas, 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-19), in Austin. The UT win completed the sweep over the Sooners this season. The Big 12's leading offense was on fire in the match as seven Horns hit above .300 and the team recorded a .467 hitting percentage. OU's Mariana Blum led the Sooners with 11 kills in the match, the only Sooner to record double-digit kills.

WEILAND, CHESTER LEAD IN 3-1 WIN OVER TAMU
The Sooners tied a school record as they topped Texas A&M, 3-1, last Saturday for a sweep of the Aggies this season. Setter Julie Chester led the offense to 73 kills, which ties a school record for a four-game match during the rally scoring era. Oklahoma had five different players record double-digit kills with Sarah Weiland leading the way with 21 kills on a .357 hitting percentage. In addition, five different Sooners collected double-digit digs on defense with libero Hannah Sharp collecting a match-high 26 digs.

Texas A&M Highlights
Watch highlights of OU's win over Texas A&M

PLAYER TO WATCH: SAMANTHA ARRIARAN
Freshman setter Samantha Arriaran has played minimal amounts this season as a reserve setter behind veteran senior Julie Chester. However, Arriaran will most likely see her first start of the season against Kansas as she is filling in for the injured Chester, who was forced out of game two in the OU/Texas match on Wednesday. The rookie came in and delivered 18 assists against the No. 3 Horns. Currently Arriaran is averaging 1.14 assists per game this season.

ON PACE WITH 2006
The 2006 squad, which was picked to finish 10th in the conference race, recorded the best record in school history (28-6) and finished second in the Big 12 standings. Now, the 2007 squad is on pace with last year's record-breaking season. The Sooners, who were picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 preseason poll this year, are currently 18-6 overall while the 2006 squad was 19-5 after 24 games. In addition, Oklahoma is the surprise of the Big 12 for the second straight year as it is currently in third in the Big 12 standings.

BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
The Sooners tied the 1984 squad with the best start in school history. The 1984 team opened the season at 15-4 and the 2007 squad recorded a 15-4 mark before losing to No. 6 Texas. Additionally, OU's 5-0 start to Big 12 play was the best start to Big 12 action ever for the Sooners.

UP NEXT
The Sooners will return home next Wednesday, Nov. 7 as they host the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 7 p.m. inside the Field House. The Sooners will enjoy their bye weekend next Saturday (Nov. 10) before welcoming Baylor to the McCasland Field House on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

TEAM EFFORT
After graduating two All-Americans from last season, Oklahoma has had to rely on a team effort in every single match and not rely on any individual. The Sooners have proven that this season as they are 16-2 with three or more players recording double-digit kills in a match. In addition, below is a look at OU's top five offensive options and how often they have led the Sooners in scoring each match this season.

Sarah Weiland (7 times)
Mariana Blum (7 times)
Bridget Laplante (5 times)
Anna Stadel (5 times)
Francie Ekwerekwu (1 time)

THE COMEBACK KIDS
Oklahoma has been at its best during the Big 12 season when trailing. The Sooners have trailed after the first game in 10 of their 14 league matches. Six out of the 10 times, Oklahoma came back to win.

OU opened the conference season against then-No. 25 Texas A&M and was trailing 0-2 before coming back to win three straight and claim the match on the road. The Sooners found themselves in a similar situation against a ranked opponent on the road as they trailed No. 16 Kansas State after dropping the first game 30-16. However, Oklahoma didn't let up as it took the next game and went on to win 3-2 in front of over 1,000 fans at Kansas State.

Oklahoma fell into a 1-0 hole against Baylor in Waco, but rallied back to win 3-1. Oklahoma fell behind by a 2-0 deficit but rallied back to beat Colorado, 3-2. OU's first loss in conference so far this season was against Missouri when it trailed 0-2 and tied it up at 2-2 before falling in the final game, 15-13. Oklahoma trailed 1-0 to Iowa State and rallied for another comeback, winning game five, 15-12.

The Sooners couldn't make a come back against No. 1 Nebraska and No. 6 Texas as they were swept by both squads. The Sooners trailed Texas A&M 1-0 but won the next three straight to beat the Aggies.

FIVE-GAME SUCCESS
The Sooners have been very successful in five-game matches. Oklahoma has played six five-game matches this season and won five of them. Three of the four matches were against teams on the road, including two that were in the top 25 at the time. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Sooners are 12-3 in five-game matches. In 2007 alone, OU is 5-1 in five-game matches.

HOME SWEET HOME
OU's 15-match home win streak was snapped by No. 1 Nebraska on Oct. 13. Prior to that OU's last loss at home was in 2006, also to No. 1 Nebraska. Including the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Oklahoma is 21-4 at the McCasland Field House.

SOONERS MOVE UP AGAIN, NO. 18
Oklahoma continues to climb up the poll as it was moved up to No. 18 in the latest AVCA poll released on Oct. 29. The ranking comes after OU knocked off Colorado and Texas A&M for the second straight time this season. The Sooners moved up three spots from last week's ranking of No. 21. The Sooners are one of four Big 12 teams ranked in the top-25. Nebraska fell to No. 2 in the country after No. 3 Texas handed the Huskers their first loss of the season. Kansas State, who the Sooners swept this season, moved to No. 12 in the latest poll. Oklahoma was ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll and moved to No. 21 in the Aug. 27 poll before falling out. Oklahoma reappeared at No. 25 in the Sept. 24 poll and the Oct. 8 poll and has moved up at least two spots every week since then.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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