Volleyball Continues Road Trip in Waco

Sept. 21, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma volleyball team will look to add to its best Big 12 start in school history (3-0) Saturday night as it travels to Waco, Texas to take on the Baylor Bears (8-5, 1-2 Big 12) at 6:30 p.m. The Sooners (10-2, 3-0 Big 12) are coming off their second straight victory over a top-25 team as OU knocked off No. 16 Kansas State Wednesday night in five games.

LIVE STATS
Live stats will be available at SoonerSports.com and baylorbears.cstv.com. Additionally, Baylor will provide live audio and video of the match on Saturday. Audio is free, but a monthly subscription of $6.95 must be paid to watch the All-Access video.

SCOUTING BAYLOR
Both Oklahoma and Baylor are coming off emotional five-game conference wins Wednesday night. The Bears knocked off Colorado by scores of 30-26, 30-32, 27-30, 30-26 and 16-14 to claim their first conference victory of the season. Oklahoma topped No. 16 Kansas State Wednesday night on the road to remain perfect in Big 12 play.

The Bears enter Saturday night's match with an 8-5 overall mark and 1-2 record in league play. BU opened conference play with a losses to Iowa State and Kansas State, both three-game losses. At home this season, Baylor has notched a 2-3 record while the Sooners are 3-1 in true road games this season.

The Oklahoma offense will be facing the top-blocking team in the league this weekend. The Bears are leading all Big 12 schools with 3.50 blocks per game in conference play. The squad recorded a school-record 23 blocks against Colorado this past Wednesday. It is no surprise the Bears are leading the conference in blocks as they have four players averaging at least 1.00 blocks per game in conference play. Anna Breyfogle and Amanda Modglin are leading the way with 1.64 blocks per game, which leads the Big 12 Conference.

Offensively, the Bears own a .206 hitting percentage in conference play and average 13.27 kills per game. Katie Sanders (2.91 KPG) and Haley Thomas (2.70 KPG) lead the offense while setter Taylor Barnes is averaging 10.00 assists per game.

LAST TIME THEY MET
The Sooners have won the last three straight against the Bears. Last season, Oklahoma swept the Bears in Norman and concluded the regular season with a 3-1 victory over the Bears in Waco. The Sooners topped the Bears by scores of 30-19, 28-30, 30-24 and 30-16 in the last meeting in Waco. The OU defense held the Bears to a .172 hitting percentage while current Sooners Sarah Weiland and Bridget Laplante had strong outings with 11 and 13 kills, respectively.

SERIES RECORDS
The Sooners lead the all-time series between the schools, 23-13. Oklahoma has claimed eight of the last 10 matches from the Bears. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, OU owns a 13-9 record against Baylor.

OU KNOCKS OFF NO. 16 KSU IN FIVE
No. 16 Kansas State beat Oklahoma in every statistical category last Wednesday, but the Sooners won the battle topping the Wildcats, 3-2 (16-30, 30-28, 30-26, 16-30, 15-13), in front of over 1,000 fans in Manhattan, Kan. The Oklahoma offense struggled as it only recorded a .141 hitting percentage. However, the highlight of the offense was Anna Stadel's 15 kills. The middle blocker also paced the defense with a solo block and five block assists.

BEST BIG 12 START EVER
Only three matches into Big 12 play, the Oklahoma volleyball team is off to its best Big 12 start in school history. The Sooners own a 3-0 mark after topping No. 16 Kansas State, No. 25 Texas A&M and Kansas in the first two weeks of Big 12 play. 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 KIDS
Oklahoma has been at its best during the Big 12 season when trailing. 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.

UP NEXT
The Sooners will return home next Wednesday, Sept. 26 to host Colorado (5-5, 0-2 Big 12) at 7 p.m. inside the McCasland Field House. Oklahoma will hit the road again next Saturday, Sept. 29 as it heads to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Tigers at 6:30 p.m.

FIVE-GAME SUCCESS
The Sooners have been very successful in five-game matches. Oklahoma has played two five-game matches this season and has won both by scores of 15-13. Both matches were against top-25 teams on the road as Oklahoma claimed the match with significant five-game wins.

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 fourth in the nation in assists per game (13.79) and is second in 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 recently moved into second all-time in the OU career record book in assists and is leading the team to a .235 hitting percentage.

CHESTER TAKES NO. 2 SPOT
OU's senior setter, Julie Chester, moved to No. 2 on the OU all-time rally-scoring assists list Wednesday night . The senior passed Jessica Barney (01-02) on the list as she now owns 1,940 assists in her career. She trails former Sooner and 2006 All-Big 12 performer Rachel Jackson, who leads the list with 3,763 assists. LOOKING SHARP Senior libero Hannah Sharp has looked solid defensively so far this season as she leads the defense with 4.21 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 11 of OU's 12 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 2.16 kills per game and 0.91 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 1.74 aces per game. Oklahoma is third in the Big 12 in aces per game as Mariana Blum is leading the Sooners with 0.47 per game, which ranks fifth in the Big 12.

KILLING IT
While only 12 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 16.19 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 12 matches, are third in the conference with 16.28 digs per game. Headlining the defense is senior libero Hannah Sharp. She ranks third among all Big 12 players with 4.21 digs per game Also highlighting the defense for the Sooners is outside hitter Mariana Blum, who is averaging 3.74 digs per game (ninth in Big 12).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Volleyball Continues Road Trip in Waco

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