10/25/04

Volleyball Preview: Oklahoma

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	Live Stats

Match #20
No. 10 Texas (17-2, 9-2 Big 12) at
Oklahoma (10-9, 2-9 Big 12)
When: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 7 p.m.
Where: Norman, Okla. (McCasland Field House)
All-Time Series Record: UT has won every meeting in the series history, 26-0 (14-0 home, 9-0 away, 3-0 neutral)
Series Streaks: UT has won every meeting
Last Meeting: October 2, 2004: UT won, 3-0, (30-11, 30-17, 30-28) in Austin.
Last UT victory: Same
Last Oklahoma victory: None
Elliott vs. Oklahoma: 7-0

QUICK SETS
Last Saturday's match against Kansas State was the official start to the second half of the Big 12 season ... UT went 8-2 in the first half ... the last time Texas had a record of 8-2 at the schedule's turn was 2002, when the Horns finished the conference slate 13-7.
Texas remained in the Top 10 in this week's USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll, staying at No. 10. Texas is ranked No. 12 in this week's Volleyball Magazine poll.
Texas fell from the ranks of the undefeated on Saturday, Oct. 16, after a 3-1 loss at No. 20 Texas A&M ... UT had opened its season 16-0 for the first time since 1990 when the team started 26-0 ... with its victory on Wednesday, Oct. 13 against Missouri, Texas surpassed its 2003 win total (15)
Texas is fourth in the nation in hitting percentage (NCAA Stats release, 10/19/04), with a .316 mark through last week, and is ranked 11th in kills per game (17.05) and 14th in assists per game (15.65) with a freshman - Michelle Moriarty - leading the offense at setter.
Mira Topic is ranked fourth nationally - and leads the Big 12 in both overall and conference only - in kills/game ... She has earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors a league-best three times in 2004.
Mira Topic has posted 122 kills in the last five matches (6.78 kills/game), which includes four matches against ranked teams (25 at No. 16 Kansas State; 25 at No. 20 Texas A&M; 25 vs. No. 4 Nebraska; 19 vs. No. 18 Kansas State).
Texas hit .333 on Saturday against Kansas State, marking the first time since Oct. 9 (at Kansas State) that the team hit for higher than .300.
UT has limited it opponents to a hitting percentage under .250 in 18 of its 19 matches, including six matches where the team has held its opponents below .100 ... offensively, Texas has hit for an attack percentage of .350 or higher in 10 of 18 matches this season, including four matches of .420 or higher.
UT has won 15 of its 17 victories matches by 3-0 scores, and has won 54 games to its opponents' nine in 2004 ... Texas has limited opponents to 19 or fewer points in 23 games this season ... UT managed the feat in only eight games in 2003.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Oklahoma opened the season 8-0 before dropping its next eight matches, all in Big 12 play ...the Sooners picked up their first conference victory against Colorado (3-2), and then beat Iowa State (3-0) last time out ... four Sooners have hit for 100 or more kills this season, led by Joanna Schmidt's 275 ... as a team, OU is hitting for .209 ... Jennifer Adams has a team-high 74 blocks, as the Sooners have out-blocked their opponents, 184.5 to 152.0 ... Stephanie Tengram has a team-high 226 digs.

OKLAHOMA QUICK FACTS Location: Norman, Okla. Nickname: Sooners Colors: Crimson and Cream 2003 Record: 11-21 2003 Big 12 Record (Finish): 3-17 (11th) 2003 Postseason: None