Ekwerekwu Earns Preseason Award

Aug. 14, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - University of Oklahoma redshirt sophomore Francie Ekwerekwu has been selected to the preseason All-Big 12 team as announced today by the league office. The OU women's volleyball team was selected to finish in a tie for eighth place, based on votes by the conference coaches. Voting coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.

"We are very excited about Francie being named to the preseason all-conference team," said OU head coach Santiago Restrepo. "It really shows the impact she made last year as a freshman. We were hoping to have more than one person on there, but right now, we're just ready for the season to start."

Ekwerekwu earned Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors a season ago. One of only two players to see action in every game last year, she tallied 312 kills on the season. Ekwerekwu also posted a hitting percentage of .284 and totaled 112 blocks on the season. She was a constant starter for the Sooners and had a career-high four solo blocks against Kansas. Ekwerekwu also recorded a career-high .562 hitting percentage against Texas Tech. In OU's upset over No. 14 Kansas State, she tallied 12 kills.

Texas was chosen as the preseason favorite to win the conference title. The Longhorns received 10 of the possible 11 first-place votes and tallied 100 points overall. Nebraska was second with 88 points, followed by Kansas State, Texas A&M and Missouri to round out the top five. Iowa State was sixth, while Colorado checked in at No. 7. Baylor and Oklahoma were tied for eighth place with Kansas and Texas Tech filling the final two spots.

Juliann Faucette (Texas) and Jordan Larson (Nebraska) were named preseason co-players of the year. Sydney Anderson (Nebraska) and Rachael Adams (Texas) were tabbed newcomer and freshman of the year, respectively.

In the last two seasons, the Sooners have been selected in the lower half of the league standings during the preseason only to conclude the season in the top half. Prior to the 2006 record-setting year, Oklahoma was tabbed 10th in the preseason poll and finished the season 28-6 (17-3, Big 12) and second in the conference standings. The Sooners ended 2006 ranked 12th in the AVCA national poll. Last season, OU was selected ninth and went 22-10 overall (13-7, Big 12) and completed the year fourth in the league.

OU hosts the Hilton Nike Invitational at McCasland Field House beginning Friday, Aug. 29. The two-day tournament welcomes three 2007 NCAA Tournament teams in Michigan State, Wichita State and Cal Poly. The Sooners face Michigan State Friday morning at 10 a.m. and return to action later Friday evening with an 8 p.m. contest with Wichita State.

PRESEASON BIG 12 COACHES POLL
Rank Team (First-place Votes)
1. Texas (10)
2. Nebraska
3. Kansas State (1)
4. Texas A&M
5. Missouri
6. Iowa State
7. Colorado
8. Baylor, Oklahoma
10. Kansas
11. Texas Tech

Preseason Co-Players of the Year: Jordan Larson, Nebraska, OH, Sr. , 6-2, Hooper, Neb./Logan View and Juliann Faucette, Texas, OH, So., 6-2, San Diego, Calif./Westview

Preseason Newcomer of the Year: Sydney Anderson, Nebraska, So., S, 6-0, Salt Lake City, Utah/Utah

Preseason Freshman of the Year: Rachael Adams, Texas, MB, Fr., 6-2, Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame

PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM
Name, School Pos. Cl. Ht. Hometown/Previous School
Taylor Barnes, Baylor S Jr. 5-11 Arlington, Texas/Martin
Anna Breyfogle, Baylor MB Jr. 6-0 Buda, Texas/Hays
Kaylee Manns, Iowa State S Jr. 5-10 Topeka, Kan./Washburn Rural
Natalie Uhart, Kansas MB Sr. 6-2 Lansing, Kan./Lansing
Megan Farr, Kansas State MB Sr. 5-10 Manhattan, Kan./Manhattan
Rita Liliom, Kansas State OH Sr. 6-0 Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc
Nataly Korobkova, Kansas State OH Sr. 6-3 Krasnoyarsk, Russia/State Siberian Technological
Weiwen Wang, Missouri MB So. 6-0 Nanjing, China/Jiangsu Education Institute
Kori Cooper, Nebraska MB Jr. 6-2 Amarillo, Texas/Amarillo
Jordan Larson, Nebraska OH Sr. 6-2 Hooper, Neb./Logan View
Francie Ekwerekwu, Oklahoma MB So. 5-11 Arlington, Texas/Arlington
Ashley Engle, Texas S/RS Jr. 6-3 Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza
Juliann Faucette, Texas OH So. 6-2 San Diego, Calif./Westview
Destinee Hooker, Texas OH Jr. 6-4 San Antonio, Texas/Southwest
Lauren Paolini, Texas MB Sr. 6-5 Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline
Sarah Ammerman, Texas A&M OH Jr. 6-2 Parker, Colo./Cal State Northridge
Mary Batis, Texas A&M OH Jr. 6-0 San Antonio, Texas/Clark

Fourteen players are named to the preseason all-conference team - a tie occurred in voting to result in 17 members.

Players Mentioned

Francie Ekwerekwu

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics