By Jeff Johncox
Transcript Sports Writer
Oklahoma's players and coaches know how important tonight's Red River Rivalry matchup with second-ranked Texas is.
The Sooners are still trying to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, something they likely would have done with a victory at home against Texas A--M last week.
But a loss to the Aggies has OU ranked No. 48 in this week's RPI.
Though OU's likely safely in the tournament (the Sooners are fourth in the Big 12 at 11-7 and the conference will probably field five tournament teams), taking down the nation's No. 2 team would be a huge boost.
The Sooners will be hosting Senior Night, as well, honoring Jackie Fotu and Bridget Laplante.
Oh, and it's Texas, of course, which is a good enough reason to get pumped up for a match.
"It would be great to beat Texas," sophomore setter Brianne Barker said. "It would secure our spot in the tournament and secure a high seed. That would be great. It's going to be a dogfight, they're No. 2 in the nation. But they're beatable. They're a beatable team. They're not so amazing no one can beat them. When they come here, they always struggle for us. We're just hoping for a good show. We're going to fight hard and hopefully pull out a win."
The Longhorns (22-1, 17-1 Big 12) come into McCasland Field House ranked behind only undefeated Penn State (33-0) in the AVCA coaches poll. They're one of the hottest teams in the country and own a 34-2 series lead over OU and are No. 1
Texas' lone loss came at No. 7 Iowa State Nov. 4, and the Longhorns have knocked off currently ranked teams California (No. 11), Hawaii (No. 3), Iowa State, St. Louis (No. 22) and Nebraska (No. 8) this season. Texas also swept OU Oct. 10 in Austin.
So, on paper, it doesn't look good for the Sooners tonight.
But coach Santiago Restrepo thinks his team can pull off the upset, especially since OU almost took two sets from the Longhorns last time out, dropping one 26-24 and another 25-23.
"Two of the three sets we played at Texas were very close," Restrepo said. "We're hoping with home court we can come out ahead."
In fact, the Sooners have some successful recent history with the Longhorns. Last season, OU went to Austin and came from behind to beat then-No. 3 Texas in five sets, 25-21, 9-25, 22-25, 25-23 and 15-13.
In 2006, the Sooners beat the then-No. 8 Longhorns 3-2 (30-28, 30-21, 31-33, 26-30, 15-13) at McCasland Field House.
"The good thing about Texas, well obviously, we have nothing to lose," sophomore outside hitter Suzy Boulavsky said. "We're supposed to lose. We've beaten them before, last year. So they're not walking into this match thinking it's a piece of cake. It's going to be tough but we're very capable of beating them. It's not a match we're scared of."
If the Sooners can pull off the upset, it would also do a lot to help their chances of hosting an NCAA regional at McCasland Field House. OU has put in a bid to host, though it likely wouldn't be seeded.
But to rebound from that tough loss to the Aggies and finish off the regular-season home schedule with a rivalry win tonight, the Sooners have to bring their "A" game.
"We just have to keep mentally prepared, which is something I don't think we were (against A--M)," Boulavsky said.
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