Aug 30, 2013

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Sallie McLaurin had 17 kills and Oklahoma hit .356 for the match en route to a 25-16, 25-17, 25-11 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the opener of the Holiday Inn West Invitational.

The Sooners, who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago and were among the others receiving votes in the first AVCA poll of the season, committed just six hitting errors in the match while limiting Milwaukee to a .095 hitting clip.

Rachel Neuberger led the Panthers with eight kills while Myanna Ruiz added six. Taylor Golabowski (14 digs) and Maisey Mulvey (11 digs) topped the UWM defensive efforts.

"They are a very solid team, very strong and very big, and really didn't make any errors," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "That made it very challenging for us because what they did created stress on us, and so we made a few more errors than we would normally make."

Milwaukee, which has just one senior on its roster, opened the match with a freshman and three sophomores among its starters. Two of the first three subs off the bench were also freshmen.

Sophomore setter Kayla Price returned to the Panther lineup after missing the final 15 matches of last season with a hand injury and had 22 assists, eight digs and three kills. Junior Julie Kolinske also appeared off the bench after missing the entire off-season with a knee injury and tallied three kills.

All three sets saw the Panthers fighting from behind much of the way. In the opening frame, Milwaukee pulled to within 9-8 on a kill by Maggie Dunbar and was still within 15-11 following a kill by Neuberger. But Oklahoma closed the frame on a 10-5 burst to win going away.

The Panthers had the second set tied at 7 after an ace by Price and an Oklahoma error. But the Sooners responded with 10 of the next 12 points and never looked back.

In the third frame, Oklahoma controlled things from the outset in building leads of 6-1, 11-3 and 16-7 to wrap up the match.

The Panthers continue action in the Holiday Inn West Invitational with two matches tomorrow. Milwaukee takes on the hosts from Western Michigan at noon EDT (11 a.m. CDT) before squaring off with Northwestern at 5 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. CDT).