Sooners Hand No. 11 Kansas State First Loss Of Season

Saturday's football game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State Wildcats isn't the only huge matchup between the two schools this week.

For the Oklahoma volleyball team, facing the undefeated and No. 11 Wildcats at home Wednesday was the biggest game for the Sooners this season, and Oklahoma played like it.

Riding a strong offensive performance from outside hitter Morgan Reynolds, and a strong team effort on defense, the Sooners handed the Wildcats their first loss of the 2012 season in a sweep (27-25, -19, -21).

Reynolds had 12 kills and hit at a .435 clip to lead the Sooner offense to a .260 hit percentage as a team. Tara Dunn chipped in with 10 kills for OU.

The OU defense, led by Sallie McLarin's 10 block assists, held the Wildcats to a .155 hit percentage, and held last week's AVCA Player of the Week, Kaitlynn Pelger, to just 13 kills, well below her season average.

Maria Fernanda and Keila Rodriguez each had nine digs to lead the Sooners in that department.

Wednesday, the Sooners started out slow, falling behind 6-2 in the first set, but thanks to several attack errors by the Wildcats, the Sooners climbed back into the set, taking their first lead at 11-10. The Sooners wouldn't trail again the rest of the match.

Despite starting two freshmen and a sophomore, the Sooners have quietly built a 12-3 record this season, including two wins over ranked opponents. Wednesday's win over Kansas State gives the Sooners a lot of momentum heading into Saturday's showdown in Austin against No. 9 Texas.