Volleyball Celebrates Winning Season

Jan. 18, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma volleyball team celebrated another winning season Friday night with its third annual banquet honoring the squad. Ace club members, parents, supporting fans and staff celebrated with the team and coaches at the Kerr-McGee Stadium Club inside the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The banquet included a highlight video that strung together all of Oklahoma's accomplishments while also recognizing each player and their individual accolades and highlights throughout the season. Head coach Santiago Restrepo capped off the night as he presented individual team awards.

Sarah Weiland was named the Most Valuable Player of the team this season while Francie Ekwerekwu earned the Most Improved Award. The Sooner Award, given to the player who best exemplifies leadership and ethics, was shared by Bridget Laplante and Anna Stadel. Below is a year-in-review of the 2007 Oklahoma volleyball team.

Season-In-Review

ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE SEASON
Despite losing five seniors, including four that were starters, from the 2006 squad, the Oklahoma volleyball team continued to escalate its program in 2007 under the helm of fourth-year coach Santiago Restrepo.

Restrepo led the Sooners to another strong regular season as they finished with an overall record of 22-10, including a 13-7 mark in the Big 12. Oklahoma only returned two starters from last year's record-breaking squad and was picked to finish ninth in the preseason Big 12 poll, but the Sooners were once again the surprise of the Big 12 as they finished fourth in the league and finished the regular season ranked No. 21 in the country.

In addition, the Sooners have been ranked in the top 25 in 22 of the last 27 weeks, and have been receiving votes on the weeks that it didn't make the top 25.

2007 Stats | 2007 Schedule

Following its fourth-place finish in the Big 12, the Sooners advanced to their second consecutive NCAA Regional, marking only the second time in OU history that an OU volleyball team, has made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

The 2007 team also became the first squad in OU history to win back-to-back first round matches as Oklahoma defeated Florida A&M in first-round action of the Gainesville Regional before dropping a close match to the 13th-seeded Florida Gators in the second round. The scrappy group that was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 battled all year long as it competed in eight five-game matches and won six of them. The squad also became the 13th in OU history to record a 20-win season.

The Sooners continued to be tough at the McCasland Field House as they upset No. 14 Kansas State in Norman and have recorded an impressive 24-4 record at the Field House the last two seasons. Individually, the Sooners were solid on the court and in the classroom.

Senior Sarah Weiland represented Oklahoma on the All-Big 12 squad as she was an honorable mention selection. Redshirt freshman Francie Ekwerekwu also earned All-Freshman team honors for her efforts during the 2007 season. Senior Mariana Blum earned a weekly award as she was honored as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week during September.

Academically, five Sooners were named to the Academic All-Big 12 squads. Highlighting the first team were senior Hannah Sharp, junior Lacy Barnes, sophomore Bridget Laplante and redshirt freshman Francie Ekwerekwu. Senior Anna Stadel rounded out the group with a second team honor.

Three more Sooners were further honored for their efforts in the classroom as Barnes, Laplante and Sharp were named Academic All-District selections.

SOONERS ADVANCE TO NCAA TOURNAMENT
For the second straight year, head coach Santiago Restrepo led the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament. It marked only the second time in school history that the Sooners made back-to-back appearances in the tournament after ending a nine-year drought by advancing to the tournament in 2006.

OKLAHOMA IN FIRST ROUND ACTION
Under Restrepo, the Sooners are a perfect 2-0 in first round action of the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma defeated Florida A&M, 3-1, in first round action of the Gainesville Regional in 2007.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Sooners made only their fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history. However, the Sooners still own a winning record of 6-5 (.545) in its five years of experience that include the 2007, 2006, 1997, 1988 and 1987 seasons.

SURPRISE OF THE BIG 12, AGAIN
The 2006 squad, which was picked to finish 10th in the conference race, recorded the best record in school history (28-6) and finished second in the Big 12 standings. The 2007 squad had a similar season to last year's record-breaking squad that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Sooners, who were picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 preseason poll this year, finished the season with a 22-10 overall mark and finished fourth in the Big 12 final standings.

RESTREPO IN THE NCAA
In his seventh year as a head coach at the Division I level and fourth with Oklahoma, head coach Santiago Restrepo made his second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Restrepo made his tournament debut in 2006 as he led the Sooners to a record-breaking year and only their second Sweet 16 appearance in school history. Prior to coaching at OU, Restrepo spent three years at Southern Miss. In his final year with the Golden Eagles, Restrepo earned conference Coach of the Year honors after leading Southern Miss to a program-best record of 27-6 but the Golden Eagles were left out of the NCAA Tournament.

SOONERS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Oklahoma posted a 3-6 record against ranked opponents with two five-game road wins over then-No. 25 Texas A&M and No. 16 Kansas State and another defeat over No. 14 Kansas State in Norman. OU dropped a non-conference match to No. 18 San Diego and was swept by No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Nebraska (in Lincoln), No. 6 Texas (in Norman) and No. 3 Texas (in Austin). Oklahoma ended its season with a loss to No. 11 Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
The Sooners tied the 1984 squad with the best start in school history. The 1984 team opened the season at 15-4 and the 2007 squad recorded a 15-4 mark before losing to No. 6 Texas. Additionally, OU's 5-0 start to Big 12 play was the best start to Big 12 action ever for the Sooners.

STADEL TOPS THE CHARTS
Senior middle blocker Anna Stadel finished out her career as the OU career leader in block assists with 274 in her four-year career. Stadel passed previous leader Eliane Santos (262) in OU's final match of the regular season against Iowa State.

LAPLANTE AND BLUM SEEING DOUBLE
Sophomore Bridget Laplante and senior Mariana Blum saw double this season as Blum owned 18 double-doubles on the season and Laplante tallied 15.

SOONERS ADD ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON
With its win against Baylor on Nov. 14, the Sooners secured their 13th 20-win season. Last season, Oklahoma went 28-6. It marked the first 20-win season for OU since 1997 when the Sooners finished with a 20-13 overall record.

FIVE-GAME SUCCESS
The Sooners were very successful in five-game matches in 2007. Oklahoma played eight five-game matches and won six of them. Five of the eight matches were against teams on the road, including two that were in the top 25 at the time. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Sooners are 14-4 in five-game matches. In 2007 alone, OU is 6-2 in five-game matches.

WINNING GAME ONE=PERFECT
Oklahoma was perfect in 2007 when it won the first game of the match. The Sooners were 14-0 when claiming the first game and only 7-10 when dropping the first frame of the match.

OKLAHOMA IN THE POLLS
The Sooners have become a common appearance in the AVCA Coaches Poll the last two years as they have been ranked in the top-25 22 of the last 27 weeks dating back to last season. In addition, during that 27-week span, the five weeks the Sooners weren't ranked they were receiving votes. OU's highest ranking during the 2007 season was No. 18. The Sooners finished the season as the second team receiving votes in the top-25 poll. That is quite a change for the program because before entering the poll in October of 2006, the Sooners only other year to be ranked in the program's history was 1988. Oklahoma was ranked No. 23 in the latest AVCA Poll that was released on Nov. 26.

BLUM TRANSFORMATION
Mariana Blum had an exceptional senior campaign and was a key reason that the Sooners finished 22-10 and 13-7 in Big 12 play. Blum has made large strides since her first season with the Sooners after playing in the junior college ranks. Below is a look at Blum's stats in 2006, where she saw minimal playing time, compared to her numbers during the 2007 season.

Stat	2006	2007
Kills per game	0.48	3.29
Digs per game	0.79	3.05
Blocks per game	0.07	0.39

WEILAND, EKWEREKWU PICK UP BIG 12 HONORS
Senior outside hitter Sarah Weiland represented Oklahoma on the 2007 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention team. Weiland averaged 3.01 kills per game on a .253 hitting percentage while also recording 0.64 blocks per game in Big 12 action. Redshirt freshman Francie Ekwerekwu was named to the Big 12's inaugural All-Freshman team. The middle blocker tallied 2.61 kills per game on a .344 hitting percentage while also tallying 0.95 blocks per game in conference matches.

FIVE SOONERS NAMED TO ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 SQUADS
The Sooners had five players named to the Academic All-Big 12 squads. Highlighting the first team were senior Hannah Sharp, junior Lacy Barnes, sophomore Bridget Laplante and redshirt freshman Francie Ekwerekwu. Senior Anna Stadel rounded out the group with a second team honor. Sharp made her second straight appearance on the Academic All-Big 12 team while Laplante Ekwerekwu, Barnes and Stadel all earned their first academic honor.

OU TRIO NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
The Sooners had three players named to ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-District VI teams this season. Hannah Sharp and Lacy Barnes represented Oklahoma on the second team while Laplante was named to the third team. Sharp collected her second straight Academic All-District honor after being named to the third team in 2006. It marks the first career honor for Barnes, a junior, and Laplante, a sophomore. Oklahoma tied Texas with the most honorees by a school in District VI.

BREAKOUT FRESHMAN
Redshirt freshman Francie Ekwerekwu was one of four new starters for the Sooners in 2007. The rookie looked like a veteran in the latter half of the regular season where she recorded double-digit kills in 13 of the last 20 matches after only doing it twice in the 12 matches before. Ekwerekwu averaged 2.61 kills per game on a .344 hitting percentage in Big 12 action. Below is a look at Ekwerekwu's stats in the first 12 matches compared to the final 20.

Stat	First 12	Final 20
Kills per game	2.16	2.81
Hitting Percentage	.186	.331

HOME SWEET HOME
OU's 15-match home win streak was snapped by No. 1 Nebraska on Oct. 13, 2007. Prior to that OU's last loss at home was in 2006, also to No. 1 Nebraska. Including the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Oklahoma is 24-4 at the McCasland Field House. The Sooners finished the season with a five-match home win streak.