Kansas Volleyball Heads To Oklahoma Wednesday

Nov. 10, 2008

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Game Notes

Coming of a pair of 3-0 sweeps in last week’s volleyball action, Kansas (12-12, 6-9 Big) will look to extend its streak when it travels to Oklahoma (10-14, 6-10 Big 12) Wednesday, Nov. 12, for a 7 p.m. match at McCasland Field House.

Free live stats for the contest are available on the Kansas Athletics website at www.kuathletics.com. In addition, fans can access live video streaming on the website for a subscription fee.

About Kansas

After notching its first back-to-back Big 12 sweeps since 2004, the Jayhawks head to Oklahoma with a 12-12 overall record and 6-9 mark in the conference. Senior Savannah Noyes paced the team hitting a .339 attack percentage in league play, which ranks fourth in the Big 12. Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week Karina Garlington is sixth in the conference with 3.62 kps. Also in the Big 12 rankings is freshman Nicole Tate, the Big 12 Rookie of the Week, who is fifth averaging 9.84 aps. Four Jayhawks contribute over two digs per set on defense led by sophomore Melissa Manda with 3.11 dps.

Head coach Ray Bechard is in his 11th season as head coach of the Jayhawks with a 173-156 overall record.

Scouting Oklahoma

Oklahoma is coming off a pair of road losses as it returns to its home court Wednesday where the Sooners have gone 4-3 during Big 12 action. As a team, OU is third in conference matches averaging 15.80 dps. Two Sooners rank in the top 10 of the Big 12 dig rankings. Senior Lacy Barnes is eighth with a 3.70 average, while freshman Caitlin Higgins is 10th with 3.15 dps. Higgins also leads on offense averaging 2.53 kps in conference play and has a team-high 20 service aces.

Oklahoma is coached by Santiago Restrepo, who is 79-69 in his fifth year as head coach of the Sooners.

Series History

In a series that dates back to 1976, Oklahoma holds a 41-27 advantage in matches against the Jayhawks and a 20-10 edge in contests played in Norman. Since the start of the Big 12 however, Kansas holds an 18-7 lead over Oklahoma. Five of KU’s seven losses in conference action have been on the Sooners’ home court.

Garlington and Tate Earn Big 12 Weekly Honors

Sophomore Karina Garlington and freshman Nicole Tate from Kansas have been named the Big 12 Volleyball Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week for matches of Nov. 3-9. The pair becomes just the eighth and ninth Jayhawks to be named a Big 12 volleyball player of the week.

Garlington, who is fourth in the conference with 3.77 kps, averaged 5.00 kills on a .354 hitting percentage in KU’s consecutive sweeps of Colorado and Texas Tech last week. Against CU, Garlington posted a team-high 20 kills to tally her fifth 20-kill performance this season. The Denver, Colo., native also compiled a .372 hitting clip along with seven digs and a pair of aces. Garlington then paced the Jayhawks with 10 kills on .318 hitting versus the Red Raiders on Saturday.

Tate produced 10.50 assists per set while guiding her squad to a .301 hitting percentage. The St. Louis, Mo., rookie recorded her ninth double-double of the season with a 40-assist, 12-dig performance in the sweep of the Buffs. KU also notched its second-highest hitting percentage of the year (.308) in that match. Against the Red Raiders, Tate compiled 23 assists while tallying five kills on eight attempts with no errors for a .625 hitting clip. On the season, Tate ranks fifth among Big 12 players with 9.95 aps.

Home Win Streak

With its win over Texas Tech Saturday, Kansas extended its home win streak to four matches. It is the Jayhawks’ longest win streak in Lawrence since 2004

Back-to-Back Sweeps

The Jayhawks picked up a pair of sweeps last week for their first back-to-back 3-0 wins in Big 12 since 2004 (No. 13 Texas A&M, Nov. 20 and Texas Tech, Nov. 24).

Conference Wins

With its win over Texas Tech, KU matched its number of Big 12 wins from a year ago. If and when Kansas picks up its seventh conference win this year, it will be the most by the Jayhawks since the team went 7-13 in 2005.

Up Next

The Jayhawks will return to the friendly confines of the Horejsi Family Athletics Center for the third time in the last four matches when they host No. 3 Nebraska Saturday, Nov. 15. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.