OU Drops Big 12 Battle at A&M

Texas A&M 3, Oklahoma 2 | Box Score: PDF | HTML

	1	2	3	4	5	F
Oklahoma	28	23	25	21	8	2
Texas A&M	26	25	23	25	15	3

Stat Leaders
Oklahoma	Statistic	Texas A&M
Barker/Higgins (19)	Digs	Banse (24)
Barker (44)	Assists	Scheivikhoven (55)
Laplante (14)	Kills	Batis (22)
Barker (.364)	Hitting %	Batis (.370)
Disarro (Assisted, 6)	Blocks	Donaldson (2)

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The University of Oklahoma volleyball team dropped a battle in College Station, Texas, Sunday afternoon, 3-2, to Texas A&M. It marked OU's first loss in the Big 12 (6-5, 2-1 in Big 12) while Texas A&M (6-6, 1-1 in Big 12) picked up its first victory. Oklahoma won the first and third sets (28-26 and 25-23) while the Aggies took the second, fourth and fifth (25-23, 25-21 and 15-8).

"The first four sets could have been won by anyone," OU Head Coach Santiago Restrepo said. "They controlled the fourth and the fifth. When you go on the road you have to take control more. We gave it away in the second game and just didn't take advantage enough."

Junior Bridget Laplante led the Sooners with 14 kills on the afternoon and freshman setter Brianne Barker tied her season high in assists with 44 against the Aggies. Freshman Caitlin Higgins and Francie Ekwerekwu each recorded 12 kills.

Sophomore Chrissy Disarro posted a team-high six block assists to equal her career high. Also on defense, Barker and Higgins led the OU team with 19 digs.

The Aggies were led in the scoring column by junior Mary Batis who posted a match-high 22 kills. Texas A&M junior Jennifer Banse also recorded a match-high 24 digs for the Aggie defense.

In set one, 25 points was not enough to determine the winner. In a see-saw battle that saw seven lead changes and 13 ties, Oklahoma finally took the set with a Suzy Boulavsky kill to win, 28-26. Freshman setter Brianne Barker led OU in the first with nine assists and a .667 hitting percentage.

The Sooners jumped on the Aggies early in the second set, leading by as many as six with a 17-11 lead. Texas A&M stormed back and cut the lead to three, 17-14, which prompted a timeout by Restrepo. The Aggie surge continued, outscoring the Sooners with a 14-6 run to end the second with a victory (25-23), and tie OU with one set each.

Set three was again a nail-biter with six lead changes and 14 ties. Aggies led the Sooners deep into the set until junior Bridget Laplante recorded a kill to tie the score at 22. A following kill by sophomore Francie Ekwerekwu gave Oklahoma the lead and went on to win, 25-23. Barker posted 13 assists and Ekwerekwu led OU with five kills in third set win.

Texas A&M took set four, 25-21, to even the match at two each. After trailing 24-16, Oklahoma's rally was cut short by an Aggie kill. In the first team to 15 points fifth set, Oklahoma led 8-7 before the Aggies scored 8 unanswered to win the set and match.

The Sooners will continue their road swing at Baylor on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., and will return home to the Howard McCasland Field House next Saturday versus Texas Tech at 2 p.m.