Volleyball Takes on Missouri

Nov. 10, 2009

Oklahoma (17-7, 10-5 Big 12) at Missouri (15-11, 6-8 Big 12)
Match 25	Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 \| 6:30 p.m. CT
Location	Columbia, Mo. \| Hearnes Center
Tickets	$5 (adults) \| $3 youth
Internet	Live Stats \| Webcast (subscription required)
Game Info	2009 Media Guide \| Match Notes

OKLAHOMA HITS THE ROAD TO FACE MIZZOU
The University of Oklahoma volleyball team travels to Columbia, Mo. Wednesday evening to take on the Missouri Tigers. First serve from the Hearnes Center is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.

SOONERS REWIND: OU DOMINATES KANSAS
It took the University of Oklahoma volleyball swept Kansas Saturday afternoon (-17, -16, -13) at McCasland Field House. The Sooners made quick work of the Jayhawks by holding KU to a .097 hitting percentage. Junior Francie Ekwerekwu led OU with nine kills. Ekwerekwu hit .412 and added five total blocks, including one block solo.

SOONERS RAISE FUNDS FOR JIMMY EVEREST CENTER
University of Oklahoma volleyball fans contributed more than $4,000 to the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center during the team's Pledge for a Cure event on Sept. 30. Visit SoonerSports.com for details on how fans can still contribute monetary donations in memory of Javier Restrepo. To date, contributions total more than $9,700.

OKLAHOMA'S DEFENSE ONE OF NATION'S BEST
Oklahoma is second the Big 12 in digs per set with 17.67, a mark that is 13th in the nation. National leader NJIT averages 20.53 per set. Freshman María Fernanda ranks fourth in the league in digs per set and 62nd in the nation with 4.62 per set.

FREUDENRICH RANKED IN TOP 150 NATIONALLY
Sarah Freudenrich ranks in the top 150 nationally in blocks per set (103rd, 1.07/set) and hitting percentage (134th, .317). Francie Ekwerekwu is 174th in the nation in blocks (0.98/set).

LAPLANTE'S CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENT
Bridget Laplante has reached the 1,000/1,000 mark for her career. Laplante (1,098 kills and 1,268 digs) becomes just the second Sooner under Santiago Restrepo to reach the plateau after Joanna Schmitt accomplished the feat from 2003-06 with 1,730 career kills and 1,177 career digs.

RESTREPO TWO WINS SHY OF #100
Oklahoma head coach Santiago Restrepo is two wins shy of his 100th victory at the school. In six seasons overseeing the Sooner program, Restrepo owns a mark of 98-78.

REMEMBERING JAVI: SOONERS CONTINUE MISSION
Throughout the 2009 season, the Oklahoma volleyball team continues their year-long mission to honor the son of their head coach, Santiago Restrepo. When he was just one-and-a-half years old, Javier Restrepo was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). In August 2008, he had a relapse and received a bone marrow transplant and then received a liver transplant but unfortunately relapsed again. Javi fought the disease like a true champion, nearly beating it on multiple occasions before it ultimately claimed his life on July 31, 2009.

OKLAHOMA MATCHES MARK
Under Santiago Restrepo, Oklahoma is 9-42 against ranked opponents with seven of those wins coming in the last three seasons. With the win at Baylor on Nov. 4, OU matched a program high with its third win over a ranked opponent this season. Oklahoma went 3-6 against ranked foes in 2007 and is 3-5 this year.

BARKER NAMED CVU.COM TOP PREFORMER
Setter Brianne Barker was named a CVU.com Top Preformer on Nov. 10 after leading OU to wins over Baylor and Kansas. Barker averaged 11.67 assists, 2.33 digs, 1.83 kills, hit .600 and averaged 0.83 blocks per set.

OU SWEEPS NO. 20 BAYLOR
The University of Oklahoma volleyball team dropped No. 20 Baylor in straight sets (-22, -20, 22) Nov. 4. Francie Ekwerekwu led Oklahoma with a season-high 18 kills and a .654 hitting percentage, committing just one attack error in 26 attempts. Defensively, three Sooners totaled double-digit digs with Bridget Laplante leading the way with 15.

LAPLANTE NAMED TO COMMUNITY OF CHAMPIONS
University of Oklahoma volleyball student-athlete Bridget Laplante has been honored by the Big 12 Conference as a member of the fall Chick-fil-a Community of Champions. She is actively involved with various projects around the Norman area, including serving as a volunteer for Race for the Cure, Special Olympics, the Oklahoma City Memorial Kids' Run and KinderCare. A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Laplante is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Society of Women Engineers, Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and Sigma Alpha Pi Leadership Society. Laplante is a standout in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big 12 first team honors the past two seasons. She was named to the College of Engineering Dean's Honor Roll and Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll the past three seasons.

THE TURNAROUND UNDER RESTREPO
Oklahoma has improved dramatically under head coach Santiago Restrepo. The proof is in the numbers produced by the Sooners under Restrepo compared to those prior to his arrival. See this week's match notes for a statiscal comparison of the year prior to Restrepo's arrival and since.

DUO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
University of Oklahoma volleyball student-athletes Suzy Boulavsky and Caitlin Higgins were named 2009 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District. Boulavsky earned first team honors, while Higgins was named to the third team. Boulavsky boasts a 3.90 grade point average in journalism. Boulavsky currently leads Oklahoma with 2.90 kills per set, having 238 on the year. She also averages 1.24 digs per set and has recorded the first two double-doubles of her career this year. Boulavsky is second on the team with a 3.31 points per set average. Higgins has a 3.39 GPA in general studies.

OKLAHOMA HITS LIGHTS OUT
Oklahoma produced a .343 hitting percentage against Colorado, the second highest total this season. Six Sooners hit .300 or better, highlighted by junior Francie Ekwerekwu's .857 clip.

A WINNING REGULAR SEASON
After finishing last season two wins shy of a .500 mark (12-16), the 2009 Sooners clinched a winning regular season after defeating Kansas State on Oct. 31.

BOULAVSKY EMERGING AS THREAT
Sophomore Suzy Boulavsky is finally getting her due as an offensive threat. Boulavsky leads OU with 245 kills and a 2.88 kps average on the year and has produced double-digit totals in 12 matches.

OU DOWNS RANKED OPPONENTS
Oklahoma defeated No. 19 Baylor 3-2 on Oct. 17 and followed by sweeping No. 21 Texas A&M on Oct. 21. It marked the first time in school history the Sooners defeated ranked opponents in back-to-back matches.

OKLAHOMA SWEEPS NO. 21 A&M
Oklahoma downed the Texas A&M Aggies in straight sets [-23, -21, -23] on Oct. 21. Caitlin Higgins led OU with 11 kills, hitting .267 on the night. Brianne Barker recorded her 14th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 12 digs. Suzy Boulavsky tallied double-digit digs for the second consecutive match with 16 digs.

OKLAHOMA UPSETS N0. 19 BAYLOR
The University of Oklahoma volleyball team defeated No. 19 Baylor 25-13, 21-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-12 at McCasland Field House on Oct. 17. It marked Oklahoma's first win over a ranked opponent at home since defeating No. 14 Kansas State 3-1 on Oct. 19, 2007. Suzy Boulavsky recorded her first career double-double with a career high 21 kills and a career-high 20 digs. Boulavsky hit a match-high .455, recording just one attack error in 44 attempts. She also brought down five total blocks, including one block solo.

ONE-WOMAN WRECKING CREW
Sarah Freudenrich is causing havoc in most matches she has played in this season. Freudenrich is averaging 2.29 kills per set and hitting a team-best .317. In 87 sets played this season, she has 10 or more kills in 10 of those contests. Considering her offensive power is potent, what really makes her a valuable commodity is her blocking. She already has 93 blocks on the year, a 1.07 per set average. She has 14 block solos and 79 block assists on the year.

EKWEREKWU AN OFFENSIVE LEADER
Francie Ekwerekwu currently is second on the team with 2.69 kills per set. She averages 0.98 blocks per set (13 block solos, 69 block assists). Ekwerekwu has played in 84 sets this year and leads Oklahoma with 3.39 points per set.

HIGGINS LEADS IN ACES
Caitlin Higgins leads Oklahoma with 17 service aces on the year. Brianne Barker and María Fernanda each have 15 while Francie Ekwerekwu has 11. Danielle Alva is the fifth Sooner to produce aces in the double digits with 10.

ON TRACK FOR A CAREER MARK
Sophomore setter Brianne Barker has 1,870 career assists already. OU has separate records for each scoring era but Barker's current mark would rank in the top five of both the sideout scoring and 30-point rally scoring records.

NOT GIVING UP POINTS IN THE NET
Oklahoma has been called for 26 blocking errors this season, while its opponents have been whistled for being in the net a total of 47 times.

SOONERS OUT-HITTING OPPONENTS
Oklahoma fares quite well in out-hitting opponents. The Sooners have hit .215 as team. They have held opponents to a .154 clip. Defensively, OU is out-digging opponents 17.7/set to 16.8/set and 2.3 blocks per to 2.0 blocks per set.

OKLAHOMA AGAINST THE BIG 12
Oklahoma owns a winning series against four Big 12 opponents (Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri) but has just an 93-182 mark in conference play.

SIDING ON THE RIGHT
Oklahoma has produced a sideout percentage of 100 percent during two sets this season. The rare feat was accomplished against North Carolina and UT-Arlington. It has only been done six times under head coach Santiago Restrepo.

BOULAVSKY EARNS OFFENSIVE POW
Suzy Boulavsky was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Oct 19. Boulavsky earned the honor after her stellar performance in Oklahoma's five-set upset of No. 19 Baylor on Saturday. She recorded her first career double-double with a career high 21 kills and a career-high 20 digs. Boulavsky hit a match-high .455, recording just one attack error in 44 attempts. She also brought down five total blocks, including one block solo and one service ace.

BOULAVSKY CVU TOP PERFORMER
Suzy Boulavsky was also named a CVU.com Top Performer on Oct. 20.

FERNANDA EARNS ROOKIE AWARD
Freshman libero María Fernanda was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Oct. 5. Fernanda is the first Sooner to be named Rookie of the Week since Sarah Freudenrich earned the award Oct. 22, 2008. Fernanda is the only Sooner to be honored twice.

FERNANDA NAMED DEFENSIVE POW
Freshman libero María Fernanda was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept 20. Fernanda is the first Sooner to be named Defensive Player of the Week since Mariana Blum earned the honor on Sept. 10, 2007. Previously, teammates Sarah Freudenrich (Rookie of the Week; Oct. 22, 2008) and Caitlin Higgins (Offensive Player of the Week; Nov. 3, 2008) were honored with weekly awards.