AUSTIN, TEXAS – In the annual Red River Rivalry match, the Oklahoma volleyball team dropped a tough four-set battle to No. 2 Texas Sunday night inside Gregory Gymnasium.

The Sooners (12-6, 4-4 SEC) avoided a sweep after picking up a win in the third set, but couldn’t overcome the No. 2 Longhorns (16-0, 8-0 SEC), dropping the match 23-25, 19-25, 26-24, 14-25.

Alexis Shelton led all players on the night with 22 kills on a .366 clip. The senior was all over the scoresheet with seven digs, four blocks and an assist.

Emoni Bush notched 11 kills to go with seven kills and four blocks of her own, while Kamille Gibson chipped in eight kills on a .389 mark with two assists, two digs and four blocks.

Kelli Jo Burgess led the defense with seven blocks, while also hitting .417 with five kills and zero errors. As a team, the Sooners notched 12.0 blocks to the Longhorns 6.0.

Despite hitting .481 in the opening frame, five service errors plagued the Sooners as Texas took set one, 25-23. Down five early, OU used a 5-0 scoring run to tie the match at 15. A statement triple block gave the Sooners their first lead of the match at 18-17. A successful Texas challenge evened the score but kills from Burgess and Bush put OU in front 20-18. Texas evened the score at 23-23 to force an OU timeout and closed out a 4-0 run to take the set 25-23.

Texas took set two to take a 2-0 lead in the match. At the media timeout, Texas led 15-14 in a highly contested set that had eight ties and three lead changes before the first break. Back-to-back kills from Bush tied the match once again at 16-16. OU kept it close, before a 5-0 run gave Texas the set, 25-19.

The Sooners rallied in the third set to keep their night alive. Behind three-straight kills from Shelton, OU led 15-13 at the media timeout. Texas used a 3-0 run to take a 16-15 lead, before OU quickly tied the set once again. Down 19-17, OU called timeout and immediately responded by tying the game at 20-20. With OU looking like it would take a 23-22 lead, a challenge by the Longhorns reversed the score and put Texas in front. Facing match point, OU used a 4-0 run to take the set, 26-24.

In the fourth set, OU fell behind 12-7 early. The Longhorns extended their lead to 14-7 before Shelton sparked a 3-0 run to make it a four-point game. Shelton stayed hot, getting the Sooners within two at 15-13. Texas used a 3-0 run to push the lead back to five and force OU to take its second timeout of the set. The Longhorns closed the match on a 9-1 run to take the set 25-14.

The Sooners close out their three-match road swing on Wednesday at Florida. The match is set for 6 p.m. CT in Gainesville, Fla.

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