Jayhawks Host Oklahoma Wednesday in Big 12 Volleyball Home Opener

Sept. 21, 2009

Complete Game Notes versus Oklahoma

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Following a week-long break from competition, the University of Kansas volleyball team (7-3, 0-1 Big 12) returns to action Wednesday, Sept. 23 to host Oklahoma (9-2, 2-0 Big 12) in the Jayhawks’ Big 12 home opener. Match time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Middle school students, as well as KU faculty and staff, will all receive $3 admission to the contest and kids can purchase a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for just $1.

Free live stats via Gametracker will be available at www.KUAthletics.com, as well as video webstreaming (for a fee).

About Kansas

The Jayhawks suffered a 3-1 setback to Missouri last week in its Big 12 Conference opener to halt a four-match winning streak and drop KU to 7-3 on the season. Junior Karina Garlington continues to pace the team with the league’s fourth-best average of 3.78 kps. Sophomore Allison Mayfield follows with 3.06 kps along with 2.19 dps. Senior Paige Mazour ranks fifth in the Big 12 attacking with a .378 hitting percentage. In the back court, junior libero Melissa Manda is averaging 3.78 dps, eighth in the conference.

Scouting Oklahoma

Oklahoma opened its Big 12 Conference schedule with wins over Kansas State and Missouri last week as it brings a 9-2 overall record to Lawrence and a four-match winning streak. A balanced Sooner offense has five players contributing over two kills per set led by junior Francie Ekwerekwu’s 2.75 kps. Junior Sarah Freudenrich is hitting a team-best .348 attack percentage and is fifth in the Big 12 blocking 1.15 balls per set. On defense, Oklahoma leads the league with 17.83 dps. Freshman Maria Fernanda is second in the conference with 4.67 dps and is one of four Sooners averaging over three digs per set. Senior Bridget Laplante (3.45 dps) and sophomore Brianne Barker (3.43 dps) rank ninth and 10th, respectively, in the Big 12. Santiago Restrepo is in his sixth season as head coach of the Sooners and owns a 90-73 record at Oklahoma.

Series Info: OU leads the all-time series with Kansas, 41-27, dating back to 1976. However, the Jayhawks hold a 14-13 edge in matches played in Lawrence. KU has defeated the Sooners the last two years at home and 11 of the last 13 times since Big 12 play began in 1996.

Manda Digs It

Melissa Manda currently ranks second all-time at KU averaging 3.68 dps. The junior libero will soon crack another career list as she is just 40 digs shy of cracking the top 10 list in career digs and just 47 digs short of becoming the 10th player in Jayhawk volleyball history to record 1,000 career digs.

Loyal Fans

For the fourth-straight year, Kansas ranks as one of the most-watched volleyball programs in the nation. Through three home matches so far in 2009, the Jayhawks average the 35th best crowd with 986 fans per match.

Up Next

KU hits the road Saturday, Sept. 26 when it heads to Baylor for a 1 p.m. match. The Jayhawks then return to Lawrence on Wednesday, Sept. 30 to host Colorado at 6:30 p.m.