Volleyball Tops Grambling in Five

Sept. 4, 2009

Oklahoma 3, Grambling State 2 | Box Score: PDF | HTML

	1	2	3	4	5	F
Grambling St.	19	25	18	25	10	2
Oklahoma	25	21	25	19	15	3

Stat Leaders
Oklahoma	Statistic	Grambling State
Fernanda (22)	Digs	Two players (20)
Cowan (39)	Assists	Johnson, D. (38)
Laplante (15)	Kills	Williams (17)
Freudenrich (.304)	Hitting %	Johnson, D. (.615)
Disarro (7)	Blocks	Davis (5)

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WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Oklahoma volleyball team need all five sets to defeat Grambling State, 3-2 [25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10], on Friday afternoon at the Best Western Shocker Classic.

Senior Bridget Laplante led the Sooners (5-0) with a season-high 15 kills and 19 digs. The Tigers fell to 1-4 on the season.

“It was good to see Kylie (Cowan) get her first win as a collegiate setter,” said OU head coach Santiago Restrepo. “Hopefully, she can continue to perform well. We didn't play exceptionally well, but Grambling State is a very athletic team. We were happy to get the win.”

Sophomore Cowan recorded her first career double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs, both career highs. Freshman Maria Fernanda once again led the Sooners defensively with a season-high 22 digs.

Freshman Morgan Reynolds had a season-high 11 kills and finished one dig shy of her first double-double. Her nine defensive helpers were also a season high. Juniors Chrissy Disarro and Sarah Freudenrich each had 10 kills.

Disarro led OU in the front row recording one block solo and a season-high six block assists. Freudenrich, who also led the Sooners with a .304 hitting percentage, continued her superb play in front of the net with two block solos and four block assists.

OU jumped out to an early lead in the opening set with three consecutive kills. After the Tigers got on the board, the Sooners responded by scoring the next three points. Oklahoma stretched the lead to 17-9 to put a considerable distance on the board and win the set, 25-19.

Grambling State answered in the second set by taking a 4-1 lead before the Sooners rallied back to tie the set at 9-9. After a 13-all score, the Tigers took the lead at 14-13 and never looked back to win the set, 25-21.

The third set provided 11 ties and three lead changes. After gaining a slim 3-1 advantage to open the period, OU saw its miniscule lead turn to a Tiger 14-13 advantage. After a kill from Freudenrich evened the score at 15, OU regained the benefit at 16-15 and extended the margin into a 25-18 win.

Looking to finish the match in four sets, Oklahoma fell behind 14-9 and was never able to overcome the deficit as the Tigers forced the deciding period with a 25-19 win. Facing their first loss of the season, the Sooners responded in the fifth frame. OU allowed the Tigers to hang close in the opening rallies but ultimately took a 14-10 lead and put the Tigers away on a match-point kill from Disarro to win the set, 15-10 and the match, 3-2.

The Sooners return to action tomorrow morning against North Carolina at 10 a.m. CT. OU closes the tournament Saturday evening, facing host Wichita State at 7:30 p.m. CT.