Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Oklahoma
Red Raiders Fall Short at No. 23 Oklahoma
November 07, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech fought hard and seniors Amy Gandy and Alicia Ostmeyer had solid outings, but it was not enough to upend No. 23 Oklahoma on the road in a tough 3-0 (30-23, 30-21 and 30-23) loss Wednesday night.
The Red Raiders fell to 7-18, 1-15 on the season. OU improved to 19-7, 11-5 for the year.
Ostmeyer led the way for Tech with team bests of nine kills and five blocks to go with .529 hitting. Gandy also had a strong stat line with seven kills, seven digs and four blocks. Bartlesville, Okla., native Caroline Courtney chipped in eight kills. Jaclyn Spearman picked up 11 digs, while sophomore Jenn Harrell added 10 digs of her own to help lead the Red Raiders on defense.
Tech came out swinging early in game one and was within two at 8-6 early on. The Sooners caught fire from there and surged forward with a big 8-2 run to go ahead 16-8. The Red Raiders made a small run of their own and cut it to 21-15 after a kill from Courtney. Tech hit a solid .333 for the game and Gandy knocked down four kills, but it was not to overcome OU as the Red Raiders fell 30-23.
A hard-fought back-and-forth battle emerged early in the second game, until OU squeezed ahead with a 6-4 lead early. A strong Sooner defense emerged from there and sparked them to a 21-14 lead. Tech made a couple of small runs, but they were not enough. OU took the game 30-21.
Game three was a game of back-and-forth runs from both squads. Coming out of the locker room, it was the Sooners that struck first and went ahead 4-0. Tech surged back and evened the tally at six on a Flores kill. OU took the momentum back from there and raced ahead to take a 16-10, only to see the Red Raiders race back to cut it to 17-16 midway through. It was the Sooners that got the decisive run late as they pulled out the 30-23 decision to finish the match.
Senior Sarah Weiland led four OU players in double-digit kills with 18 on a smoldering .600 attack percentage. Mariana Blum added 13 kills and Samantha Arriaran dished out 55 assists as the Sooners hit .348 on the evening.
Tech will return to the court Saturday night when it takes on Missouri in the United Spirit Arena. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
