Volleyball Hosts NIKE Invitational This Week

NIKE Invitational
Sept. 3-5 | McCasland Field House | Norman, Okla.

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Radio/ Stream	1400 AM \| Friday SoonerSports.tv \| Friday and Saturday Chris Plank \| Laura Alford
TV	FSSW+ \| Thursday Chad McKee \| Laura Alford

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Micaela Spann // Jr. // MB Spann claimed the first All-Tournament honor of her collegiate career at the Omni Hotels Classic last weekend. She averaged 2.07 kills, while hiting a team-best .368 and leading the defense with 1.29 blocks per set.

Home Openers Since '04
2014	CSUN	W, 3-2
2013	Arkansas	W, 3-0
2012	Missouri State	W, 3-1
2011	SMU	W, 3-0
2010	Wichita State	L, 0-3
2009	Missouri	W, 3-1
2008	Michigan State	W, 3-1
2007	Denver	W, 3-0
2006	Arkansas	L, 2-3
2005	Texas-Arlington	W, 3-0
2004	Oral Roberts	W, 3-0

NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma volleyball returns home to host its annual NIKE Invitational at McCasland Field House. The Sooners open play against Little Rock on Thursday, September 3 at 7:00 pm. The action continues Friday vs. North Texas and Saturday vs. Central Arkansas. Admission to Saturday afternoon's match prior to the OU football game is free.

After competing in one of the toughest opening-weekend tournaments in the country, Oklahoma (0-3) is still seeking its first win of the season. The Sooners took No. 24 Colorado to five sets and No. 9 Florida State to four a week ago. Offensively, redshirt-junior outside hitter Madison Ward led the team with 2.64 kills per set, followed closely by senior outside hitter Kierra Holst at 2.57. Junior middle blocker Micaela Spann hit a team-leading .368 with 2.07 kills and 1.29 blocks per set. Spann and Ward were each named to the Omni Hotels Classic All-Tournament Team. Collectively, Oklahoma hit .213 and held opponents to .230 with a 2.39 blocks per set average. The Sooners out-blocked the competition in two out of three matches.

Little Rock (0-3) returns to Norman, where the Sooners picked up a hard-fought 3-1 victory a year ago. The Trojans, who lost a pair of matches last week to No. 19 Michigan State and No. 15 Kentucky, put together a 30-5 season in 2014 and reached the NCAA Second Round with an upset of 16-seed Kansas. Edina Selimovic hit .343 with 3.10 kills per set. North Texas (1-2) won its opener against Winthrop at Missouri on Friday and was narrowly defeated in five by North Dakota State. Carnae Dillard totaled 68 kills for a 5.23 average across 13 sets. Central Arkansas (1-2) salvaged its weekend in Las Vegas with a five-set win over Omaha. Heather Schnars led the attack with 3.71 kills per set.

Against the Field

Oklahoma is a combined 28-12 against its opponents this weekend. The Sooners most common opponent is North Texas, which OU leads 17-11 in the all-time series. Oklahoma has faced UNT only twice under Santiago Restrepo; picking up 3-0 wins on the road in 2006 and 2011. The Mean Green last came to Norman in 1992; a sweep by the Sooners. Last season's 3-1 win over Little Rock marked the sixth-straight for Oklahoma. The Sooners are 8-1 all-time against the Trojans and have faced off four times since 2009. Oklahoma is 3-0 against Central Arkansas with all three meetings occurring since 2009. The Sugar Bears won the first two sets in Norman last year before OU stormed back for a narrow, five-set victory.

Home Court Advantage

Oklahoma went 11-2 at McCasland Field House in 2014, including a four-match sweep of the NIKE Invitational. During a span of seven NCAA Tournaments in eight years, the Sooners are 97-39 at their home floor. For the second straight season, Oklahoma set a new program record for average home attendance at 942. The Sooners previous best was 928 in 2013. Oklahoma was the last remaining unbeaten team at home in the Big 12 last season at 9-0.

Open House

The Sooners hold a 27-14 record all-time in home openers and are 9-2 under Restrepo. A five-set win over CSUN marked the fourth year in a row OU won its home opener.