OU Volleyball Visits Little Rock for Four

UALR Tournament
Sept. 1-3 | Little Rock, Ark. | Jack Stephens Center

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Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 3-0 Coach: Santiago Restrepo Career Record/Years: 350-224/19 Rank: NR

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OH-Kimmy Gardiner, Sr. Gardiner pulled in the awards over the last week as the Most Outstanding Player of the Oklahoma Invitational and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. This weekend, she faces her former team, Mississippi State, with which she was an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention as a freshman in 2013.

NORMAN, Okla. – The second weekend of action sends the University of Oklahoma volleyball team to the Little Rock Invitational for four matches between September 1 and 3. The Sooners take the court against the host Trojans Thursday night at 6:30 pm to get the tournament underway.

Oklahoma's opening weekend was a perfect one as the Sooners rolled through their own Oklahoma Invitational will three-straight sweeps of Oral Roberts, UTEP and UMKC. Senior outside hitter Kimmy Gardiner led the way offensively with 3.22 kills per set on her way to being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. She hit .441 on the weekend with 2.89 digs per set. Senior middle blocker Micaela Spann led OU in hitting at .488 with 2.78 kills per set and was named All-Tournament along with junior middle blocker Marion Hazelwood, who finished with 2.89 kills per set on a .407 attack rate. Sophomore setter Audrey Alford distributed the ball to five different players that totaled 20 kills or more in nine sets. She averaged 11.00 assists and 2.22 digs per set. As a team, the Sooners hit .378, while holding opponents to a .152 hitting percentage.

Oklahoma vs. the Field

Oklahoma is 9-1 all-time vs. Little Rock, their first opponent on the docket in the tournament. The Sooners took care of the Trojans in three sets last year in Norman when Spann hit .562 on 10 kills to go along with seven blocks. The Sooners have squared off against Arkansas-Pine Bluff just once in the team's history, defeating the Golden Lions in three sets back in 2011. OU finished with a spectacular .355 hitting percentage in the match. 1991 was the first and only matchup between Oklahoma and Mississippi State, when the Sooners earned a 3-0 victory over the Bulldogs. This will be OU and UT-Martin's first ever meeting.

Sweep Stats and Streaks

Dating back to last season, Oklahoma has won seven of its last eight matches; all by way of the sweep. The lone exception over that period was a 3-0 loss at home to No. 3 Texas (11/27/15). The Sooners last swept the field at a tournament in 2013 with wins over Alabama A&M, Middle Tennessee State and host Missouri State at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational. Oklahoma won 14-consecutive streaks during that stretch, including three in the prior match vs. BYU (9/7/13 at Portland State) to come back from two down to win and the first two sets of an eventual five-set win at Tulsa (9/17/13) in the following match.

Against the SEC

After a 3-2 loss at No. 10 Florida (8/30/14), OU had a four-match win streak against SEC opponents snapped. Oklahoma most recently faced an SEC opponent in the 2014 NCAA First Round; a 3-0 loss to LSU. The Sooners are 19-27 all-time vs. the SEC and 8-5 with Santiago Restrepo calling the shots. The Sooners most common opponents from the SEC include LSU (3-8) and Arkansas (4-3).