Season Begins Friday at Ram Volleyball Classic

NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team is set to open the 2019 season this weekend as the team travels to Fort Collins, Colo. for the Ram Volleyball Classic hosted by Colorado State.

OU opens the tournament with Cal Friday at 2 p.m. CT. The Sooners will face Chicago State Saturday at noon and host team Colorado State at 8:30 p.m.

Ram Volleyball Classic
Date	Time (CT)	Opponent
Friday, Aug. 30	2 p.m.	Cal
Saturday, Aug. 31	12 p.m.	Chicago State
Saturday, Aug. 31	8:30 p.m.	Colorado State

Live stats will be available for all games of the tournament. Saturday's contest with Colorado State will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.

"For us, we're very adamant about who we returned and based on the success of last season, what our abilities are going in to this year to make sure that our preseason resembled that," said second-year head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton. "You're talking about an entire spring and a preseason of growth and development."

"Playing good teams, playing other Power 5 schools and conference winners like Colorado State are important to us because those are resume builders – they're teams that are going to go out and play a very strong schedule and if we want to be one of the best, you've got to play against them and compete with them. That's always been the message since we've come here: we are Oklahoma and we deserve to go out and play the best and we believe that we can compete with the best."

The 2019 Sooners

OU comes in to the 2019 season after seeing the largest single-season turnaround in program history in 2018. Under Gray-Walton, the Sooners went 17-11 to earn a share of third place in the Big 12.

Oklahoma returns 11 student-athletes from the 2018 roster in seniors Brianna Kadiku and Haley Sanchez; juniors Paige Anderson, Kylee McLaughlin, Hali'a Hogan, Keyton Kinley, Sarah Maras, Sarah Sanders, Kira Morikawa; and sophomores Aysia Harty and Sabrina Simms.

Three of OU's returners earned All-Big 12 accolades in 2018 as Anderson was named to the second team and Kinley and McLaughlin garnered first team honors. Additionally, Kinley was selected as the league's Libero of the Year and McLaughlin earned Setter of the Year accolades, marking the third time in program history that multiple Sooners have earned end-of-year honors from the Big 12.

Kinley was named an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection to become the first defensive specialist in program history to earn All-America accolades.

No Doubt About It

Juniors Kylee McLaughlin and Keyton Kinley were unanimous selections to the Preseason All-Big 12 team after earning All-Big 12 first team honors in 2018.

McLaughlin finished the 2018 season with a conference-best 1162 assists, averaging 10.76 assists per set to rank fourth in the Big 12. In league matches, McLaughlin led the Big 12 with 678 assists, producing a 10.94 assists per set average that ranked second in the league to capture first team All-Big 12 honors.

A native of Lexington, Ky., Kinley led conference with 541 digs and 5.01 digs per set in 2018. The first team All-Big 12 honoree totaled a league-best 348 digs and 5.61 digs per set in Big 12 play.

Additionally, Kinley anchored the Sooner defense that held its opponents to a .189 hitting percentage in 2018, ranking first in the conference. Kinley had double-digit digs in 26 of OU's 28 matches this season, including 16 showings with at least 20 digs.

Quick Hits

OU is 23-22 all-time in season openers.
Four of OU's 2019 regular season opponents earned berths in the 2018 NCAA tournament, including Colorado State Invitational host Colorado State, Indiana Invitational opponent Yale and conference foes Texas and Baylor.
Additionally, OU Nike Invite opponent Georgia Tech and Big 12 rival Iowa State made the 2018 National Invitational Volleyball Championship field with the Cyclones bringing home the title.

Scouting the Golden Bears

Cal is set to open the season Friday against the Sooners. The Golden Bears are coming off a 15-16 season in 2018, good for their most wins since 2013.

Cal is entering its first season under head coach Sam Crosson, who previously served as an assistant for the Golden Bears since 2010. 16 players from the 2018 roster make their return, including All-Pac 12 honorees in outside hitter Mima Mirkovic and middle blockers Preslie Anderson and Lauren Forte.

The Sooners have met the Golden Bears just once in program history. Cal prevailed 3-0 on Nov. 10,1990 in Berkeley.

Previewing Chicago State

Chicago State enters the 2019 season after a 9-24 showing last season. The Cougars' roster features nine returners, including the 2018 WAC Libero of the Year Megan Klavitter. Klavitter finished the season with 678 digs to become the league's single-season leader in addition to finishing in a tie for second on the WAC's single-season digs per set list with an average of 5.65. Klavitter recorded double-digit digs in all 33 matches for the Cougars.

Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between OU and Chicago State.

A Look at the Rams

Colorado State enters the 2019 season tabbed as the favorite to win the Mountain West for the seventh consecutive season. The Rams won their 15th regular season MW title in 2018 after a 23-8 overall record and 15-3 in league play.

CSU returns senior setter Katie Oleksak, has been named the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year for the second time. The Rams claimed four of the seven preseason team positions, including Oleksak, Breana Runnels, Kirstie Hillyer and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen.

Colorado State leads the all-time series 6-2. OU's two wins over the Rams have come in Norman. CSU won the most recent meeting between the teams in 2012, topping the Sooners 3-1 in Fort Collins.

Up Next

The Sooners are on the road again next weekend as they travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana Invitational. OU is set for matchups with Yale (Sep. 6), Oregon State (Sep. 7) and the host Hoosiers (Sep. 7).

Match Info

Live stats will be available for all games of the tournament. Saturday's contest with Colorado State will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.

For updates, follow @OU_Volleyball on Twitter or like Oklahoma Volleyball on Facebook.