Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sweeps No. 20 Volleyball
11/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2009
WACO, Texas - Oklahoma got 18 kills from Francie Ekwerekwu to help sweep No. 20 Baylor 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) at the Ferrell Center on Wednesday night.Three Sooners reached double figures in kills, led by Ekwerekwu, with Suzy Boulavsky totaling 13 and Caitlin Higgins getting 10. The Sooners hit .311 (52-14-122) to just .254 for Baylor (45-14-122).
The Bears were led by Katie Sanders who had 10 kills and seven digs on the night. Setter Taylor Barnes had 31 assists and a team-high 10 digs to go along with eight kills and a block. Caitlyn Trice also had 10 digs for the Bears and Torri Campbell had a match-high five blocks.
"They just outplayed us tonight," head coach Jim Barnes said. "Right now, we are being challenged, and its about getting back in the gym and getting better as a team. We have to bring that on the road. Our character will come through. The biggest thing is how you handle adversity."
Baylor came racing out of the gates in the first set grabbing a lead of 4-0 with a kill and back-to-back block assists by Campbell. She teamed up with Elizabeth Graham on the first one, then had a triple block assist with Graham and Sanders on the next one. Anna Breyfogle pushed the lead to as many as six at 9-3 with a kill, but OU bounced back with a 7-0 run on the strength of two kills by Higgins to take a 17-15 lead. A 4-0 run by Oklahoma was helped by three Baylor attack errors put the Sooners in control. A Campbell kill made it 24-22 OU, but Sarah Freudenrich ended it with a kill for the Sooners.
In the second set, Baylor took a 3-2 lead with back-to-back kills by Sanders and Campbell, then scraped together a couple kills to tie it at 9-9. OU responded with another 4-0 run to make it 16-11, the pushed the lead to 22-15 with a kill by Ekwerekwu. Kills by Graham and Sanders only got Baylor as close as 23-19 before a BU service error gave OU a 25-20 set win and a 2-0 stranglehold on the match.
OU jumped out to a 10-5 lead with four Ekwerekwu kills, but the Bears came back to get within one at 11-10 on the strength of back-to-back kills by Sanders. Breyfogle tied it at 17-17 with two kills in a row. OU pushed its lead to 23-21, then took the set 25-22 with two kills by Ekwerekwu.
Baylor (19-6, 8-6 Big 12) will be back in action against Texas A&M in College Station,Texas. The first serve is set for 6:30 p.m. CDT. The Bears will be looking to avenge an loss at the Ferrell Center earlier this season to the Aggies.
