The Sooner volleyball team beat ranked opponents in back-to-back games for the first time in school history, sweeping No. 21 Texas A&M in three sets [25-23, 25-21, 25-23].
OU defeated No. 19 Baylor in Norman Saturday and grabbed a tough win Wednesday in College Station, where the Aggies were previously undefeated, to secure the historic pair of wins over ranked foes.
Both teams started strong in the match, and neither team led by more than three points in the very close opening set.
Texas A&M committed three errors that allowed the Sooners to close the first.
The Sooners never trailed in the second set, leading by as much as seven at 19-12. The Aggies had a late surge to pull within two, but OU closed the set to take a 2-0 match advantage.
Oklahoma hit effectively in the first two sets, notching a .315 attack percentage.
OU turned around its recent pattern of slow starts after the break, taking an early 7-2 lead. The Sooners could not keep the early burst going, allowing Texas A&M to fight back and steal the lead.
Although Oklahoma only hit 0.15 in the set and committed six errors, the Aggies squandered their lead at 19-19, giving the Sooners the opportunity to complete the sweep.
OU finished with a .257 attack percentage and held Texas A&M’s powerful offense to a .185 percentage. The Sooners also out-blocked the Aggies 7.5 to 7.
Sophomore Suzy Boulavsky led the team in digs with 16, adding four kills and two block assists, to help the Sooners edge the Aggies in digs 55-51.
Sophomore Caitlin Higgins led the team offensively with 11 kills, followed by junior Sarah Freudenrich and senior Bridget Laplante with eight each. Freudenrich hit a team-high .353 attack percentage.
Junior Francie Ekwerekwu added seven kills and five block assists. Brianne Barker, sophomore setter, had 31 assists, 12 digs and five kills.
OU (13-6, 6-4) finishes its five-match streak against ranked opponents Saturday against the No. 5 Huskers at 7 p.m. in Lincoln, Neb. The Sooners came close to beating Nebraska Aug. 30 in Norman, taking the Huskers to five sets.
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