Volleyball Set for Televised Match

Sept. 18, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - Off to its best Big 12 start in school history at 2-0, the Oklahoma volleyball team will hit the road this week for another top-25 showdown. The Sooners will face No. 16 Kansas State this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Manhattan, Kan.

The Oklahoma volleyball team will be playing on live television for the Kansas State match. The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Midwest in Manhattan and will also be picked up live by Fox Sports Southwest for Oklahoma cable customers on Cox Channel 37. For Oklahoma satellite customers, the game will be available on Fox Sports Midwest on DirecTV (Channel 648) and DISH (Channel 449).

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
The No. 16 Wildcats have opened the season on a roll as they own a 10-2 record and a perfect 2-0 start to Big 12 play. KSU currently owns a five-match winning streak and has only dropped losses to No. 13 Hawaii and No. 5 UCLA. Both of those losses were four-game matches.

Wednesday night's battle will feature two strong offenses as well as one of the better digging teams in the Big 12 (Oklahoma) against one of the top blocking squads in the conference (Kansas State). The Sooners enter the match averaging 16.76 kills per game (second in the Big 12) to Kansas State's 16.22 kills pers game (fourth in the Big 12). Additionally, Oklahoma ranks second in the league with 17.21 digs per game while Kansas State is third in the conference with 2.99 blocks per game.

The offensive weapons for the Wildcats include junior outside hitter Natalya Korobkova, who is leading the team with 4.41 kills per game (fifth in the Big 12) while setter Stacey Spiegelberg is leading the offense to a .284 hitting percentage with 13.20 assists per game.

Defensively, KSU has three different players averaging over 1.00 blocks per game. Megan Farr (1.59 bpg ), Kelsey Chipman (1.32 bpg) and Korobkova (1.19 bpg) are headlining the Wildcat defense.

LAST TIME THEY MET
Oklahoma swept the Wildcats last season with a 3-2 (27-30, 30-21, 21-30, 30-27, 15-8) victory in Manhattan and a 3-0 (30-24, 30-24, 30-27) win in Norman. OU's first match against Kansas State last season was in Manhattan and snapped a 14-match losing streak to the Wildcats. Sophomore Bridget Laplante had a strong outing against the Wildcats last season as she averaged 3.88 kills per game in the two matches.

SERIES RECORDS
Oklahoma leads the all-time series between the schools, 42-23-1. However, since the inception of Big 12 play in 1996, the Wildcats have dominated the series with a 17-5 record. Oklahoma's two wins last season snapped a 14-match losing streak to the Wildcats.

SOONERS TOP KANSAS, 3-1
Oklahoma improved to 2-0 in its first week of Big 12 play after knocking off Kansas, 3-1 (30-24, 30-20, 27-30, 30-17), in the conference home opener. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Francie Ekwerekwu led the offense as she recorded a career-high 15 kills on a .480 hitting percentage. Ekwerekwu was also stellar on defense as she added five block assists and a block solo behind the team's 11 blocks. Fellow middle blocker Anna Stadel added eight kills on a .357 hitting percentage while adding five block assists for the defense.

BEST BIG 12 START EVER
Only two matches into Big 12 play, the Oklahoma volleyball team is off to its best Big 12 start in school history. The Sooners own a 2-0 mark after topping No. 25 Texas A&M and Kansas this past week. Last year, Oklahoma opened the season with a victory over Texas A&M but had to face eventual national champion Nebraska in the second conference match of the season. The Nebraska loss was one of only three conference losses all season (twice to Nebraska and once to Texas).

THE COMEBACK TEAM
Trailing 2-0 against No. 25 Texas A&M last Wednesday, the Sooners didn't panic as they were in familiar territory. Oklahoma went on to defeat the Aggies, 3-2 (26-30, 26-30, 30-27, 30-24, 15-13) In 2006, the Sooners trailed 2-0 to Texas Tech but came back to win the match. The five-game match against TAMU also marked OU's first of the season.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma will continue its road stretch this Saturday as it heads to Waco, Texas for a 7 p.m. meeting against Baylor (7-5, 0-2 Big 12). Oklahoma will return home to host Colorado next Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. inside the Howard McCasland Field House. Following its match against CU, Oklahoma will hit the road for another week-long road stretch against Missouri and TCU.

SOONERS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Following its win against No. 25 Texas A&M, the Sooners are now 1-1 against ranked teams. Oklahoma's lone loss against the top-25 was to No. 18 San Diego in a close 3-1 match (30-32, 30-22, 24-30, 33-35). Last season, the Sooners were 2-4 against ranked teams during the regular season with two of the losses coming against No. 1 Nebraska. Oklahoma upset No. 8 Texas last season, marking the school's first win over a ranked team since 1998.

CHESTER STEPPING UP
Despite only playing minimal amounts in 2006 behind former All-Big 12 performer Rachel Jackson, senior setter Julie Chester looks like a seasoned veteran leading the offense. In addition, Chester is putting up statistics that are comparable around the country. Chester is currently ranked fifth in the nation in assists per game (13.79) and is leading the challenging Big 12 Conference in assists per game.

The senior is the only Sooner to have picked up two all-tournament honors this season. Chester was named to the Sooner Legends Nike Invitational All-Tournament team and the USD Invitational All-Tournament team. She is currently ranked third all-time in the OU career record book in assists and is leading the team to a .244 hitting percentage.

BLUM NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Oklahoma volleyball player Mariana Blum was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 10 for the matches of Sept. 4-9. It marked the first time in her career that Blum has received the honor. Blum posted a conference-leading 5.40 digs per game in 10 games, including sweeps of Virginia and UC-Santa Barbara. She also averaged 0.50 blocks on the week. Blum recorded single-match career highs in digs and kills.

LOOKING SHARP
Senior libero Hannah Sharp has looked solid defensively so far this season as she leads the defense with 4.39 digs per game (third in the Big 12). The senior also set a career high against Oregon State as she collected 25 digs against the Beavers. Sharp has collected double-digit digs in 10 of OU's 11 matches this season.

BREAKOUT FRESHMAN After redshirting last season, freshman Francie Ekwerekwu has started off her rookie campaign with a bang. The Arlington native is averaging 2.29 kills per game and 0.97 blocks per game. The rookie is one of four new starters on the squad this season.

TOP SERVES
Head coach Santiago Restrepo's main emphasis during the offseason was for the Sooners to work on their serving. It looks as if it has really paid off as Oklahoma is averaging 1.84 aces per game. Oklahoma is third in the Big 12 in aces per game as Mariana Blum is leading the Sooners with 0.53 per game, which ranks third in the Big 12.

KILLING IT
While only 11 matches into the season, the Sooners have improved on their kills per game rate. OU has a variety of options on offense with three different Sooners averaging over 3.00 kills per game. Currently the Sooners are second in the conference in kills per game with 16.76 behind top-ranked Nebraska.

DIGGING IT UP
In addition to serving, Restrepo also had the Sooners work hard on their defense over the spring. It has also paid off as the Sooners, after only 11 matches, are second in the conference with 17.21 digs per game. Headlining the defense is senior libero Hannah Sharp. She ranks third among all Big 12 players with 4.39 digs per game Also highlighting the defense for the Sooners is outside hitter Mariana Blum, who is averaging 3.95 digs per game (eighth in Big 12).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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