OU Volleyball's McLaurin Receives Offensive Honor

University of Oklahoma junior middle blocker Sallie McLaurin has been named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. She joins a pair of Iowa State players in Kristen Hahn and Andie Malloy who were selected as this week's Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week honorees, respectively.

The announcement marks the sixth weekly accolade of McLaurin's career in the Crimson and Cream, and first for the Midwest City native this season. She is a previous three-time Rookie of the Week (Nov. 1, Oct. 11, Oct. 18, 2010) selection and two-time Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 24, Oct. 3, 2011) honoree. With today's honor, McLaurin has now been recognized in each of the Big 12's weekly accolades.

Her selection also marks Oklahoma's first weekly offensive and fifth weekly recognition of the year – freshman setter Julia Doyle was named the Rookie of the Week three times this season, while senior libero Maria Fernanda was a Defensive Player of the Week selection earlier this year.

McLaurin was selected Offensive Player of the Week after she totaled double-digit kills in each of Oklahoma's wins last week over TCU and No. 25 Kansas State and hit over .400 in each match.

Against the Horned Frogs, McLaurin helped OU secure its 20th win of the season with 10 kills off 21 attempts and no errors to hit .476 on the night. In an upset victory over No. 25 K-State, she led the team with 14 kills and a .481 hitting percentage after she struck down 14 of her 27 attempts with just one error for the 15th .400-plus performance of her junior campaign.

In addition to her offensive efforts, McLaurin led the team in blocks each match, with eight against TCU (1 BS-7 BA) and six (1 BS-5 BA) against the Wildcats.

The middle blocker concludes the regular season leading the Sooners in six separate categories: kills (309), hitting percentage (.370), solo blocks (20), block assists (132), total blocks (152) and points (395.0).

Outside of her play for the Sooners, McLaurin finished the regular season second in the Big 12 in two separate categories – hitting percentage (.370) and blocks per set (1.41). Additionally she finished in the top-10 in two other categories – kills per set (2.86, 10th) and points per set (3.66, 7th)

The Sooners earned their fourth-straight bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship Sunday afternoon and will head to Provo, Utah, later this week to take on Arizona State. If they win Friday, they will face either No. 12 BYU or New Mexico State to earn a trip to the Omaha Regional.