Volleyball Releases 2007 Schedule

NORMAN, Okla. University of Oklahoma Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and head volleyball coach Santiago Restrepo announced the Sooners' 30-match schedule Tuesday morning. The 2007 slate features 14 matches against teams that advanced to the NCAA Championship as well as 13 home contests at the Howard McCasland Field House.

For the second straight year, the Sooners will kick off the season with its two-day Sooner Invitational at the Field House. This year the Sooners will welcome Denver, Seton Hall and NCAA qualifier Alabama to the opening tournament of the season.

“We are very excited to host our own tournament for the second straight year,” Restrepo said. “It will be a great opportunity for our fans to see some outstanding competition in the opening weekend of play.”

2007 Schedule | Spring Season Schedule

Following its home tourney, OU will hit the road for the Idaho Tournament (Aug. 31-Sept.1) in Moscow with matches against NCAA qualifier Middle Tennessee as well as Oregon State and host Idaho.

The Sooners will close out their non-conference schedule with their final tournament of the season in San Diego, Calif., Sept. 7-8. Oklahoma will match up against two NCAA qualifiers in UCSB and San Diego as well as Virginia.

“I think we have put together a great non-conference schedule that will really show us how we measure up with the rest of the country,” Restrepo said. “We are going to face teams during our non-conference portion that are in the top-25 every season. I'm excited for all of our young kids to face this competition and become familiar with top competition.”

For the second straight year, Oklahoma opens the Big 12 slate on the road at Texas A&M, where the Sooners garnered their first win in 27 years last season. The Aggies and Sooners will open the season on Wednesday, Sept. 12. OU's Big 12 home opener is set for Saturday, Sept. 15 against Kansas.

“As usual, the Big 12 is going to be a very tough conference this year,” Restrepo said. “We must play our best night in and night out in this tough league. I believe our challenging non-conference schedule will prepare us for the conference slate.”

The conference slate will feature five other squads that advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2006, including the National Champion Nebraska Cornhuskers. Highlighting the home schedule is the second week in October where the Sooners will host Nebraska on Saturday, Oct. 13 and follow that with a Red River match up against Texas, whom the Sooners beat for the first time in the series history in 2006, on Wednesday, Oct. 17.

For the fourth straight year, Restrepo has scheduled a non-conference tilt with Texas Christian University in the middle of the conference race. Restrepo filled the Sooners' conference bye with a road contest against the Horned Frogs on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

Senior Day for 2007 graduates Julie Chester, Anna Stadel, Sarah Weiland, Mariana Blum and Hannah Sharp will be against Missouri on Nov. 21 in OU's final regular season home match.

The Sooners are coming off their best season in school history after finishing No. 12 in the country and advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for only the second time in school history. Restrepo earned conference, region and National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Sooners to the best one-year turnaround in Big 12 history and a second-place finish in the conference with a 17-3 league record behind the eventual National Champions.

OU is replacing 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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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