No. 1 Texas Volleyball wins on the road at No. 25 Oklahoma, 3-1
NORMAN, Okla. -- No. 1 Texas Volleyball took down No. 25 Oklahoma, 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 25-27, 25-21)Saturday evening at McCasland Field House behind a match-high 19 kills by junior All-American Haley Eckerman and a season-high 52 assists from senior Hannah Allison. The victory increased the Longhorns’ win streak to 13 matches and kept their perfect Big 12 Conference record intact.
Eckerman added 11 digs on the night for her fifth double-double of the season and 12th as a Longhorn. Senior libero Sarah Palmer led both squads with 16 digs, while sophomore middle blocker Molly McCage and Allison had eight blocks each.
Ahead 12-11 in game one, Texas (17-2, 10-0 Big 12) broke away from Oklahoma (18-5, 6-3 Big 12) on an 11-2 run for a 23-13 advantage. The Sooners won two of the next three points on a Longhorn service error and a Sallie McLaurin kill, but the Horns put the game away following a kill from McCage and a seventh Sooner mishit. Eckerman led both teams with six kills in game one as Texas outhit Oklahoma .355-.036.
The Longhorns built an early 8-3 lead in the second frame following four kills, a pair of blocks and back-to-back hitting errors by the Sooners. The Texas lead was cut to three points at the 17-14 mark, but a Khat Bell kill and bad set by OU’s Taylor Migliazzo put Texas back ahead by five and forced Oklahoma to call its second and final timeout. After trading points, Texas forged ahead with a 4-0 run to make it 24-15 before OU took the next two points on a pair of Texas errors. Bailey Webster clinched the game on the following play to put the Longhorns up 2-0.
Texas trailed from the beginning in the third set as Oklahoma began play with consecutive aces. Down 15-19, the Longhorns came out of their final timeout with a 7-3 rally to tie the game at 22-all. Texas reached match point first, 24-23, and Oklahoma called its final timeout before tying the game at 24-all on a Madison Ward kill out of the timeout. Following a bad set on Texas’ side of the net to set up Oklahoma’s first attempt at set point, the Sooners’ Kierra Holst served into the net for a 25-all tie. OU won game three following an Eckerman hitting error and Keila Rodriguez’s 10th kill of the night.
Oklahoma carried the momentum into the next game and jumped ahead 5-2 before Texas called timeout. The Longhorns put up three straight points after a Chiaka Ogbogu kill, Kat Brooks ace and double block from Eckerman and Bell to tie the game at 5-all. Texas eventually broke a 13-all tie beginning with an Eckerman kill and back-to-back Oklahoma hitting errors, but the Sooners rallied back with a 4-1 run to once again tie the game at 17-all. With the game tied at 18-all, Texas went ahead by two on an Eckerman kill and double block by Webster and McCage and never looked back as it put Oklahoma away.
Following a midweek bye, Texas returns to action Saturday, Nov. 9, when it hosts Kansas at 2 p.m.
Post-match Notes
-Texas is now 55-2 in its last 57 Big 12 matches.
-The Longhorns improved to 5-1 this season against ranked opponents … Texas had not met a ranked opponent since Sept. 22 when it defeated then-No. 12 Nebraska, 3-2.
-Until its third-set win, Oklahoma had not taken a game from Texas since Nov. 26, 2011 … the Longhorns swept the Sooners in each of the last three meetings.
-The Longhorns’ 57 assists were their most since logging 60 against Nebraska on Sept. 22.
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