Following the opening serve in the OU volleyball team’s match against Missouri, freshman setter Brianne Barker and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Francie Ekwerekwu promptly blocked a Julianna Klein attack.

The momentum would be short-lived, as the Tigers went on to hit well over their .201 season average in all three sets during Sunday’s match and finished the day with a 3-0 sweep of the Sooners (15-25, 17-25, 20-25).

In front of 1,710 fans in attendance at Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo., the Sooners fell to 6-10 in conference play and 10-14 overall and head coach Santiago Restrepo said his team had trouble working around the staunch Missouri defense.

“We got really frustrated,” Restrepo said. “They played very good defense against us. We couldn’t put the ball away and it got to us.”

Junior outside hitter Bridget Laplante led the offense with nine kills and added 14 digs on defense. Barker, despite averaging nearly two assists below her season average of 9.22 assists per set, still managed to secure her 13th double-double of the season, finishing the match with 23 assists and 10 digs.

The bright spots for the Sooners in the match’s opening set were scarce, with their only lead coming at the 1-0 mark after the Barker-Ekwerekwu block.

The Tigers (12-12, 6-8 Big 12) opened up a lead as deep as 10 points in the first frame, largely due to a balanced attack on both ends of the ball. In the first set alone, OU managed a mere .021 hitting clip – well shy Missouri’s .308 hitting percentage – and was on the receiving end of five Tiger blocks.

By comparison, OU had three blocks all afternoon.

While it’s tough to put a positive spin on a sweep, Restrepo said the play of his defense improved after the first set, while his hitters managed to turn the ball very well.

The Sooners held Missouri down to .239 hitting in the second set, but still found themselves out-killed by a 16-10 margin.

Hanging neck-and-neck with the Tigers half-way through the set, a series of OU attack errors took their toll and gave Missouri a 22-16 lead. It opened up a cushion large enough to put the Tigers up 2-0 on the afternoon.

Missouri’s main source of offense came off its bench, with junior defensive specialist Lauren Nuckolls putting forth a career day on offense. Entering Sunday’s match averaging only 1.63 kills per set, Nuckolls hammered home a career-high 19 kills on a .436 hitting clip.

Nuckolls was only the player to break the double digits on kills, as the Sooners usual suspects on offense were held in check for the duration of Sunday’s match.

“[Missouri] was doing everything perfect,” Restrepo said, crediting the Tigers defense. “They defended [Francie Ekwerekwu] very well and got a lot of deflections off of her hitting.”

Compared to Nuckoll’s 19-kill performance, the Tigers held Ekwerekwu, freshman outside hitter Caitlin Higgins and sophomore middle blocker Sarah Freudenrich to a combined 15 kills.

The afternoon’s final set saw the Sooner offense ratchet the tempo of the match up a notch, converting for 17 kills and hitting .244 for the set. Even with increased offense, the Tigers finished the set one kill better than OU, committed four fewer attack errors and in turn, walked off the court victorious by five points, 25-20.

The Sooners return home for action on Wednesday, when they host Kansas in the first of a three-match home stand. First serve from McCasland Field House is set for 7 p.m.

“[The home stand] is going to be huge,” Restepo said. “We’re glad that we’re going to be home for our next three matches and hopefully our crowd comes and support us.”