Team Effort Leads to 3-0 Win

Aug. 28, 2009

Oklahoma 3, Rice 0 | Box Score: PDF | HTML

	1	2	3	4	5	F
Oklahoma	25	25	25	x	x	3
Rice	22	11	23	x	x	0

Stat Leaders
Oklahoma	Statistic	Rice
Fernanda (16)	Digs	McClean (14)
Barker (34)	Assists	Schamun (35)
Three players (10)	Kills	McCord (11)
Barker (1.000)	Hitting %	Two players (.389)
Freudenrich (5)	Blocks	J. Boulavsky (2)

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HOUSTON – The University of Oklahoma volleyball team had three players with 10 kills each as the Sooners (2-0) dropped the Rice Owls, 3-0 [25-22, 25-11, 25-23], on Friday evening at the Mizuno Invitational. As a team, the Sooners recorded 51 total kills and nine team blocks in the win over the Owls (1-1), a 2008 NCAA Tournament team.

“We came back from being down in the first set and continued that momentum into the second set,” said OU head coach Santiago Restrepo. “We put pressure on Rice and put together a really good set. We've been working on being more aggressive and knew they would fight back in the third. It really showed our character holding them off.”

Oklahoma fell behind 6-4 early in the set only to rebound to tie the set at 13-all following a kill from sophomore Brianne Barker. After Rice took a 19-16 lead, OU rattled off three consecutive points to tie the set at 19-all. After a kill from sophomore and Houston native Suzy Boulavsky for the set's 11th tie at 22-22, the Sooners recorded the last three points of the set to win 25-22.

The rally momentum carried through to the second set, which OU won handily, 25-11. The Sooners jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back.

Following the intermission, the Owls refused to go down without a fight. The third set swayed back and forth almost the entire period. OU's largest lead came at the 10-7 before the Owls answered to tie the set at 11-11. The Sooners gained their final lead at 22-21 after a kill from junior Francie Ekwerekwu. Oklahoma's first match point opportunity came at 24-22 but the Sooners needed one more rally to win the set 25-23 and the match, 3-0.

Barker had an outstanding match with her second consecutive double-double. Her 34 assists and 15 digs were just two areas where the Amarillo, Texas native contributed. Barker recorded four block assists and hit a perfect 1.000 with six kills. She added one service ace for nine points.

“Brianne had an awesome match,” Restrepo said. “She distributed the ball very well and had a brilliant game in the back row. She also served very tough. Brianne will have to continue to do that for us to be successful.”

Junior Sarah Freudenrich posted a double-digit kill total for the second consecutive match. Freudenrich was one of three OU players to have 10 kills on the night. Hitting a .421 clip, Freudenrich dropped four block assists and a block solo to lead the Sooners with 13 points.

Returning to her hometown, Boulavsky showed no signs of nervousness playing in front of her family and against her sister, Jessie. Boulavsky had 10 kills and three block assists. Ekwerekwu also had 10 kills and hit .526 and also added three block assists. Freshman Maria Fernanda led the Sooners defensively with 16 digs, while sophomore Caitlin Higgins added 14.

“Sarah has been making huge contributions for us this early in the season,” Restrepo added. “She's a silent killer. She's a quiet person and sometimes people might not expect much out of her because of that. But, she's been a tremendous contributor for us. Suzy didn't show any signs of nervousness and came through with some very important kills and blocks.”

The Sooners close out the 2009 Mizuno Invitational hosted by Rice Saturday with a 10 a.m. CT match against Nicholls State and a 5:30 p.m. CT contest against Central Arkansas.