Volleyball Ready for Spring Season

NORMAN, Okla. The Oklahoma volleyball team is coming off its best season in school history after finishing second in the Big 12 Conference and producing an overall mark of 28-6 in 2006, the best mark in Oklahoma history.

The Sooners advanced to the Sweet 16 for the only the second time in school history and head coach Santiago Restrepo earned Big 12 and Region Coach of the Year for his efforts.

Now, Oklahoma is beginning a new year as it began its spring practice this past Monday, Feb. 26 and is preparing for its spring exhibition season that will begin on Friday, April 6 in a tournament hosted by TCU at the University Rec Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The tournament will feature numerous teams around the region, including Oklahoma, North Texas, SMU, Texas State and UT-Arlington. The tournament is slated to begin at 8 a.m.

Year-In-Review (PDF) | 2006 Stats

The Sooners will follow that weekend with a tournament at the Texas Tornados Volleyball Club facility in Houston, Texas April 13-14. Oklahoma will play against Rice in the featured match on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Sooners will cap off the weekend with tournament play on Saturday against a field that includes USC, Texas A&M, LSU, Rice, Alabama, Baylor, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Texas Tech, Stephen F. Austin, SMU, New Mexico, Houston, Wichita State, TCU, Lamar, UTEP, Tulane and UNLV.

Oklahoma will round out the exhibition season with a pair of home contests against Missouri State and North Texas on Saturday, April 21. The Sooners will host both squads in the McCasland Field House with the first match beginning at 10 a.m. The even is free to the public.

The Sooners, who finished at No. 12 in the 2006 final poll, will have to replace a senior class that included four starters and a libero. The senior class will go down as one of the best in OU history as all five received All-Big 12 recognition with Anna Monsen earning Co-Libero of the Year recognition and Eliane Santos collecting Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors. Additionally, Santos and Joanna Schmitt were named third team and honorable mention All-Americans, respectively.

Four freshmen will join the 2007 squad in the fall to complete the team roster. Click here for a complete look at the 2007 signing class.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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