OU Faces Challenge In San Diego

Sept. 6, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - The Sooners will close out their non-conference portion of the schedule this weekend as they head to San Diego, Calif., for the USD Invitational (Sept. 7-8). Oklahoma suffered its first loss of the season last weekend as it fell to No. 25 Middle Tennessee and dropped out of the top 25 this week after being listed in the poll for a school-record 13 straight weeks.

The Sooners will begin tournament action on Friday night with a 7 p.m. (CST) meeting against Virginia. Following the tournament opener, OU will take on UCSB at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon followed by the tournament finale on Saturday night at 9 p.m. against No. 18 San Diego.

Oklahoma will begin conference play next week as it heads to Texas A&M on Sept. 12 and hosts its Big 12 opener on Saturday, Sept. 15 against Kansas.

LIVE STATS
Live stats of every match at the USD Invitational will be available at REPLACE_ME. In addition, OU's match against No. 18 San Diego will be streamed live on the USD web site as well.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers own a record of 4-2 with wins over Temple and Norfolk State last weekend as well as Texas Tech and Arizona State two weeks ago. Virginia's only losses were both sweeps by Arkansas and UNLV. Friday night's match up will feature the first meeting ever between Oklahoma and Virginia.

Offensively, the team owns a .235 hitting percentage with senior outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood leading the team with 4.64 kills per game on a consistent .300 clip. Kirkwood is coming off an impressive past weekend as she was named to the all-tournament team after recording 24 kills in the tournament finale against Temple.

Defensively, the Cavaliers are collecting 14.09 digs per game while tallying 2.48 blocks per game at the net. Senior middle blocker Katie Oakes is the team leader with 1.36 blocks per game.

SCOUTING UCSB
The UCSB Gauchos enter the weekend with a 2-4 record with their two wins coming against Long Island and Fairfield. The Gauchos have played in some tough tournaments this season and have suffered losses to San Diego State, UNLV, Loyola Marymount and Northwestern.

The Gaucho offense is averaging 15.50 kills per game with setter Dana Vergas tallying 12.00 assists per game. Junior outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin has been on fire during the non-conference season as she is averaging 5.38 kills per game while sophomore outside hitter is also providing an offensive spark with 3.87 kills per game.

UCSB has a strong defense that is collecting 17.92 digs per game behind libero Leigh Stephenson, who is recording 5.25 digs per game. The Gauchos are tallying 2.88 blocks per game at the net with the help of senior middle blocker Brett Quirarte (1.29 BPG).

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO
San Diego will be the first ranked team the Sooners have faced this season. In its last six matches, Oklahoma has faced three teams that were receiving votes in the top 25 poll, but none that were actually ranked. The Toreros have faced some tough competition the last two weekends as four of their five matches have been against top-20 teams. San Diego opened the season with a sweep over then-No. 19 Long Beach State as well as a 3-0 win over Fairfield but has dropped its last three matches to No. 2 Stanford, No. 23 Ohio and No. 9 Minnesota.

The San Diego offense is averaging 15.44 kills per game on a .237 hitting percentage with a system that uses two setters. Jessica Nyrop is recording 7.06 assists per game while Kelsi Meyers is complementing her with 5.89 assists per game. The top offensive producers for the Toreros are Laurel Abrahamson (3.61 KPG; .425 %) and Jaimarie Sutherland (2.71 KPG; .322%).

As a defensive unit, USD is averaging 15.56 digs per game along with 2.17 blocks per game. Libero Andrea Csaszi is the back row leader with 4.78 digs per game while Abrahamson (0.94 blocks per game) and Torey Ellick (0.93 blocks per game) are USD's top defenders at the net.

IN REWIND
The Sooners recorded a 2-1 mark at the Idaho Classic last weekend. Oklahoma dropped its first match of the season in the tournament opener against Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders swept the Sooners by scores of 30-19, 42-40 and 30-22. However, OU bounced back on Saturday with two straight wins over Oregon State and host school Idaho. Oklahoma defeated the Beavers, 3-1 (31-29, 30-25, 23-30, 30-28) before sweeping Idaho (30-26, 30-25, 30-21) in the tournament finale.
BRIDGET LAPLANTE AND SARAH WEILAND NAMED TO THE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Two Sooners were named to the Idaho Classic all-tournament team last weekend. Sophomore outside hitter Bridget Laplante and senior outside hitter Sarah Weiland represented the Sooners on the all-tournament team.

Laplante led the Sooners on offense all weekend as she averaged 4.30 kills per game while also leading the team with five aces in the tournament. Her defense was also stellar with 2.60 digs per game and 0.80 blocks per game.

Weiland also paced the offense with 4.10 kills per game on a team-best .372 hitting percentage.

UP NEXT
The Sooners close out the non-conference portion of their schedule this weekend in San Diego. Next, Oklahoma will open Big 12 Conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 12 against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. Oklahoma defeated the Aggies for the first time in 27 years last season to open league play.

The Sooners will return to the McCasland Field House on Sept. 15 for its conference home opener against Kansas at 11 a.m.

SOONERS FALL FROM TOP 25 POLL
For the first time in 13 weeks, the Oklahoma volleyball team is not ranked in the latest CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll that was released on Sept. 3. The Sooners dropped their first loss of the season last weekend to Middle Tennessee. Oklahoma, ranked No. 21 last week, is now the second-highest team receiving votes while the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee moved into the top 25 this week at No. 25.

Oklahoma was ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll that was released on Aug. 14. It marked the first time in school history the Sooners had been ranked in the preseason top 25.

The Sooners had been ranked in the top-25 for 13 straight weeks since entering the poll last October for the first time since 1988, the last time (prior to 2006) in the program's history that the Sooners were slated in the top-25. The 13-week stretch marked the longest in school history that the Sooners remained in the top 25.

SOONERS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Oklahoma is facing its first ranked opponent of the season this weekend in No. 18 San Diego. 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 teams since 1998.

LOOKING SHARP
Senior libero Hannah Sharp looked solid defensively last weekend as she led the defense with 4.60 digs per game. The senior also set a career high against Oregon State as she collected 24 digs against the Beavers.

16 STRAIGHT POINTS
While there is no record, it seemed that the Oklahoma volleyball team came close to breaking one on Aug. 25 in the tournament championship match against Alabama. The Sooners scored 16 consecutive points against Alabama, possibly one of the longest rallies in OU history. Oklahoma led the second game 19-17 and rattled off 11 straight points to win 30-17 and then opened the third game of the match, 5-0, to score 16 straight points against the Crimson Tide.

BREAKOUT FRESHMAN
After redshirting last season, freshman Francie Ekwerekwu has started off her rookie campaign with a bang. The Arlington native is averaging 2.00 kills per game and 0.74 blocks per game, second on the squad. 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 fourth in the Big 12 in aces per game as Mariana Blum and Bridget Laplante are leading the Sooners with

SOONER HITTING PERCENTAGE
While only six matches into the season, the Sooners have improved upon their hitting percentage. Currently the Sooners own a team hitting percentage of .257 (fourth in the Big 12) and are third in the conference in kills per game with 17.11 and have two Sooners hitting over .400.

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 six matches, are fourth in the conference with 1679 digs per game. Headlining the defense is senior libero Hannah Sharp. She ranks third among all Big 12 players with 4.53 digs per game Also highlighting the defense for the Sooners is outside hitter Mariana Blum, who is averaging 3.74 digs per game (eighth in Big 12).

FAST FACTS ON THE 2007 SQUAD Oklahoma returns only two starters from last year's squad, sophomore Bridget Laplante and senior Sarah Weiland ... OU's newcomer class is one of the largest in history with six rookies and two sophomore transfers ... Jasmine Powell, a freshman from Norman North High School, is the first Oklahoma native to be on the roster in the Restrepo era at OU ... Freshman setter Samantha Arriaran's older sister, Erika, plays basketball at the University of Texas and both are friends with OU's Paris twins ... Freshman Sarah Machen's brother plays quarterback at Baylor.

TOMES REPRESENTS USA
Former Sooner volleyball player Laura Tomes, an All-Big 12 selection last season, represented the United States this past summer as a member of the Women's National Volleyball Team. Tomes played with the USA in the Pan American Cup as well as the Pan Am games as she led the Red, White and Blue to a bronze medal.

Tomes is only the fourth Oklahoma volleyball player in school history to represent the Sooners on a USA National Team. Patrice Arrington, who played on the USA National Team in 2005, was the last Sooner to be named to a USA squad.

ANOTHER TOUGH SCHEDULE
A constant year in and year out in Big 12 play, the Oklahoma volleyball squad has put together another tough schedule for the 2007 season. The Sooners' 30-match schedule features 14 matches against teams that advanced to the NCAA Championship as well as 13 home contests at the Howard McCasland Field House.

Over the course of the season, the Sooners will face currently ranked No. 1 Nebraska (twice), No. 7 Texas (twice) and No. 18 San Diego. Additionally, the Sooners will be pitted against No. 22 Kansas State (twice). The Sooners will also face Colorado and Texas A&M twice as both of them are receiving votes in the current top-25 poll.

RECAPPING 2006
OU finished arguably the best season in program history in 2006, ranked 12th in the final poll with a 28-6 overall record and a second place finish in the Big 12. Head coach Santiago Restrepo earned Big 12 and Central Region Coach of the Year honors after OU recorded the best wining percentage in school history (.824) and one of the most impressive turnarounds in the country (and best in Big 12 history).

The performance earned Oklahoma a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997. Oklahoma advanced to the Sweet 16 round for only the second time in school history before falling to Pac-10 powerhouse UCLA.

Two Sooners earned All-America honors, another first since the 1997 season. Senior Eliane Santos was named a third team All-American and Joanna Schmitt earned honorable mention honors.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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