Sooners Cruise Past Colorado, 3-0

Sept. 26, 2009

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

	1	2	3	4	5	F
Oklahoma	25	25	25	x	x	3
Colorado	17	16	14	x	x	0

Stat Leaders
Oklahoma	Statistic	Colorado
Fernanda (17)	Digs	Burkett (2)
Barker (37)	Assists	Burkett (21)
Ekwerekwu (11)	Kills	Steinhaus (9)
Ekwerekwu (.562)	Hitting %	Edelman (.300)
Ekwerekwu (4)	Blocks	Fogle (2)

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BOULDER, Colo. – The University of Oklahoma volleyball team dominated through the entire match to sweep the Colorado Buffaloes, 3-0 [25-17, 25-16, 25-14], Saturday evening at the Coors Events Center. The Sooners (10-3, 3-1 Big 12) only trailed twice during the entire match. Colorado fell to 5-8 overall and 0-4 in league play.

Junior Francie Ekwerekwu recorded 11 kills and four block assists and matched her career high with a .526 hitting percentage. Sop homore Caitlin Higgins and junior Sarah Freudenrich added 10 kills each.

Senior Bridget Laplante added six kills and 15 digs. Laplante also contributed defensively with six total blocks, including one block solo. Freshman Maria Fernanda had a match-high 17 digs and four assists for OU. Sophomore setter Brianne Barker hit .375 with five kills and eight digs. Barker's largest contribution was her 37 assists.

As a team, Oklahoma hit .280 and produced a sideout percentage above 60 percent in all three sets. The Sooners out-blocked CU, 7.5 to four.

Oklahoma trailed only once in the opening set – at 2-1 – and took a 3-2 lead and extended it to 9-4 before rolling to a 25-17 win. Ekwerekwu and Freudenrich each had four kills in the period with Ekwerekwu connecting on all four of her attack attempts. Of OU's 15 kills in the set, Barker assisted on 11 of those while Fernanda aided on two. Laplante and Higgins led defensively with four digs each.

Oklahoma continued the momentum into the second set, leading 3-1 and stretching the advantage to 6-3 before the Buffs answered to cut the Sooner lead to 9-8. After Oklahoma gained the 10-8 lead, the Sooners put considerable distance on the scoreboard, leading 12-8 before CU called a timeout. Out of the break, OU continued to hold the lead winning the set 25-16. Higgins tallied four kills in the set and Fernanda's eight digs paved the way defensively.

Early rallies saw the third set deadlocked at a 6-6 tie before Oklahoma broke the tie on a kill from Ekwerekwu. After taking the 7-6 advantage, OU extended it to 12-6 before the Buffaloes called a timeout. After the brief delay, Oklahoma continued to roll, winning the set 25-14 to take the match in a three-set sweep.

The Sooners return home Wednesday evening to host Nebraska in a 6 p.m. CT contest at McCasland Field House. The match will be televised nationally on ESPNU and the OU family will honor the life of head coach Santiago Restrepo's four-year-old son, Javier, who lost his battle with leukemia in July. Tickets are still available for the match online at SoonerSports.com or by phone at (800) 456-GOOU.

Head football coach Bob Stoops and women's basketball coach Sherri Coale will sign autographs at the match from 6:00-6:30 p.m. A minimum charitable donation of $10 is required and fans are allowed to bring one item per coach to be signed. The autograph session will take place inside the McCasland Field House which requires a game ticket to enter.

Fans will also have the opportunity to pledge a dollar amount for every ace, dig, kill and/or block OU accumulates during the match. A minimum donation of $.50 per is encouraged. Pledge forms will be distributed at the door on the night of the event or can be printed at SoonerSports.com. Fans unable to attend the match may also contribute by printing the appropriate pledge form from the athletics Website.