The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
20-1 (12-1Big 12)
Oklahoma
17-9 (8-5Big 12)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 22 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Oklahoma | 25 | 18 | 25 | 17 | 5 | 2 |
No. 5 Volleyball claims Big 12 Championship with win at No. 24 Oklahoma
11.15.2014 | Volleyball
The Longhorns defeated the Sooners, 3-2 in Norman.
NORMAN, Okla. – No. 5 Texas Volleyball (20-1, 12-1) won its fourth-consecutive Big 12 Championship outright with its defeat of No. 24 Oklahoma (17-9, 8-5), 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 15-5) on Saturday night at McCaslan Fieldhouse.
The win marked the Longhorns' fifth title in the last six years, their eighth Big 12 title overall and 21st conference championship.
The win also was UT's sixth over a ranked opponent this year (6-0) and the 15th-consecutive Big 12 road victory.
Senior Khat Bell led the Longhorns with a season-high 15 kills on a .483 hitting percentage. Senior Haley Eckerman posted 15 hitting .225 and sophomore Chiaka Ogbogu added 12 kills, hitting .526.
Sophomore Chloe Collins recorded a season-high 31 assists, while freshman Cat McCoy and junior Amy Neal had 18 and 11 digs, respectively.
Junior Molly McCage led the Longhorns in blocks with a career-high 11, for the most blocks by any Texas player this season.
As a team, UT outhit its 21st opponent this year with its .322 hitting percentage to OU's .229. The Longhorns also out-blocked the Sooners, 13.0 to 4.0.
In the first set, neither team led by more than two until the Sooners took a 10-7 lead. Texas tied the score four times after that, but OU regained the lead and went up, 23-19 for its biggest lead of the set. The Longhorns could not tie it again and Oklahoma took the first set, 25-22.
The second set was a different story as Texas jumped out to an 8-3 lead early. The Sooners narrowed the score to within two at 12-10, but the Longhorns would not let them get within less than two points. UT took set two, 25-18.
The first points of the third set were similar to the first set with the teams trading points until a 15-15 tie. From there, the Sooners went on a 4-1 run and Texas was never able to narrow the gap. Oklahoma won set three, 25-21.
The fourth set was neck-and-neck until the 14-14 mark, when the Longhorns went on a 9-1 to lead, 22-15. The Sooners only won two more points after that and UT took set four, 25-17.
It was all Texas in the fifth set as the Longhorns charged out to a 10-3 lead with nine kills from six players. UT held the Sooners to only two more points to win the set, 15-5, the match, 3-2 and its fourth-straight Big 12 Championship.
Kierra Holst led the Sooners with 18 kills and three aces.
The Longhorns will hit the road again on Wednesday, Nov. 19 to take on Baylor at 7 p.m. in Waco, Texas.
Postgame Comments
Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On the win over Oklahom: We weren't in rhythm for a lot of the match. We struggled, but I thought our team did a good job of fighting back. Most importantly, we just started fighting at the end of game four and into game five. It showed a lot of grit.
On winning the Big 12 Championship: It's huge. We never take that for granted, it's an honor to win that. It's a great conference and it's very hard to do when you play a true double-round robin. It's a tribute to our girls and how hard they've worked, what this program has done and we are really excited to be able to win that championship and add another year to our banner.
Senior Haley Eckerman
On winning the Big 12 Championship: It feels great, because we've accomplished our first goal. Our first goal is always to win the Big 12. To know that we have done that every single year, it gives us more confidence.
