The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 11 Volleyball rallies to remain perfect against Oklahoma
11.23.2005 | Volleyball
NORMAN, Okla. -- Up two games and trailing by as many as seven points in the third game, 11th-ranked Texas used nine of their 13 blocks in the final game to overcome four Oklahoma game points and sweep the Sooners 30-28, 30-26, 31-29 on Wednesday night at McCasland Field House.
With the victory, Texas improved to 29-0 all-time against Oklahoma. UT has also won the previous 11 matches in three games, dating back to 2000.
Three players had at least 10 kills for the Horns, lead by the outside tandem of Dariam Acevedo and Jen Christian, who each had 11. Leticia Armstrong had 10 kills to go with a match-high six blocks.
Joanna Schmitt had a match-high 19 kills for the Sooners, while Sarah Weiland had 11. Elaine Santos had eight kills, two aces and six blocks, while Gabriela Tonon had nine kills.
Texas (22-4, 16-3 Big 12) fell behind 5-0 in game three and got only within two points - at 12-10 - before Oklahoma (7-21, 2-17 Big 12) pulled out a 6-1 run to move ahead by seven points at 18-11. Texas responded with a mini three-point run behind an Armstrong kill and successive blocks to trail by four at 18-14. The Sooners went to Schmitt, who anchored a 4-2 run with three kills, as they went back ahead by six points at 22-16. OU matched its biggest lead of the game - a seven-point spread - at 26-19 after a block, but Texas buckled down, chipped away at the OU lead and mounted a match-ending 12-3 run.
Heather Schreiber hammered down an overpass, and after an OU error, Armstrong and Michelle Moriarty combined for a block to pull UT within four points at 26-22. The Sooners came back with a block of their own, but Christian's kill pulled UT back within four points before Acevedo had a solo block that cut the Sooners' lead to three. Acevedo had UT's next to kills as the teams traded side outs, but after Jennifer Adams gave Oklahoma four game points at 29-25, the Sooners did not score again.
Acevedo had a kill, Moriarty an ace and Magee and Acevedo had back-to-back solo blocks to tie the score at 29-29. Schmitt sent an attack well wide to give UT match point at 30-29 before Acevedo had her third solo block of the game to end the contest.
Texas had 13 blocks - including nine in the final game - and held OU to a .211 attack percentage, including an .068 mark in the final game. While UT had just 11 kills in the final game, Oklahoma swung for 14 errors to help UT's cause. UT hit .255 in the match.
Brandy Magee had nine kills and five blocks for the Horns, while Moriarty dished out 41 assists to go with five blocks and seven digs.
UT jumped right out to a 5-0 lead to open game one behind Magee's service which included a pair of aces, but OU rallied and tied the score at 6-6. UT regained the lead on a Sooner error and then went ahead by two on an Armstrong kill on an overpass. The Longhorns maintained a slim lead - by as many as four points at 15-11 - but Oklahoma continued to claw and tied the score at 20-20.
A UT attack error gave OU the lead at 21-20 before back-to-back Christian kills recaptured the advantage for the Longhorns. The teams played through seven more ties before Magee had a cross-court kill to give the Horns game point and Christian ended the game with a solo block.
Oklahoma came out strong in game two, pulling out to a 4-0 lead behind four UT hitting errors. Much like OU did in the first game, Texas rallied and tied the score at 6-6 and then went ahead to 8-6 on three straight Acevedo kills. The Longhorns continued to hold the lead despite OU cutting the advantage to one point five different times, the last at 13-12. After a Christian kill gave UT a two-point lead back at 14-12, the Horns mounted a 5-0 run to pull out to an 18-12 advantage.
The Sooners tried again to come back and got within two points four separate times before Schmitt's kill pulled OU within one point at 27-26. Armstrong responded with a kill of her own to extend the lead back to two points, before OU had a hitting error to give UT game point and Magee had a game-winning block on Schmitt to put the Horns up 2-0 headed into the intermission.
The Longhorns return to action on Saturday, Nov. 26, when they host top-ranked and undefeated Nebraska in a 6:30 p.m. match at Gregory Gym. Orange Santa will be in attendance and fans will receive a free general admission ticket with the donation of a new, unwrapped toy.
