Road Trip to Texas A&M on Deck for OU

NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team hits the road Tuesday for a weeknight clash with former conference foe Texas A&M. The match at Reed Arena is set for a 6:30 p.m. start on the SEC Network+.

Casey Richardson and Chelsea Reber will be on the call, with Richardson the play by play and Reber on color commentary.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

LAST TIME OUT

The Sooners went 3-0 at the Nike Invitational over the weekend, downing Arizona State (3-2), Louisiana (3-0) and Georgia Tech (3-1) in their first competitions at McCasland Field House this season.

OU held off Arizona State (5-3) 22-25, 25-17, 25-16, 12-25, 15-12 Friday for their fourth consecutive five-set victory.

The Sooners notched back-to-back wins Saturday as they swept Louisiana 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 before ousting Georgia Tech 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16.

Setter Kylee McLaughlin and outside hitter Sarah Sanders were named to the all-tournament team while middle blocker Paige Anderson was tabbed tournament MVP.

MCDOUBLE

McLaughlin has recorded a double-double in seven of OU's nine contests this season with all seven of those performances coming consecutively. During the Nike Invite, McLaughlin 47 assists and 14 digs against Arizona State; 37 assists and 12 digs against Louisiana; and 46 assists to go with 13 digs against Georgia Tech.

McLaughlin ranks second on the team in digs with 119, second only to libero Kinley, who has 169 on the year. The junior notched 14 double-doubles last season and is on track to surpass that mark.

A dual threat, McLaughlin has had four our more kills in the last four matches, including seven in three sets against Louisiana.

ANDERSON'S GOT AMMO

Junior middle blocker Anderson went off during the Nike Invitational, tallying a team-high 38 kills over the weekend on a .408 clip en route to tournament MVP honors.

Anderson had 11 kills against Louisiana for a .400 clip, then followed that performance up with 17 kills on a .538 clip in the Georgia Tech contest to mark the second time this season she's hit above .500 (Anderson had a .667 hitting percentage against Oregon State).

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Through three weeks of the season, OU's defense leads the Big 12 conference in both digs (624) and digs per set (16.42). The next closest school is Texas Tech with 588 digs on the year. OU is second in opponent hitting percentage, holding other teams to .173.

The 2018 Big 12 Libero of the Year Kinley is the current conference leader in digs with 169 to her name. She also leads the league in digs per set with 5.63. The next closest defender (Alexa Hasting of West Virginia) has 142 digs to her name.

OU's defense was on lock against Georgia Tech as four players recorded digs in double digits. Kinley led with 19 while Ashlynn Dunbar was right behind with 17; McLaughlin had 13; and Paige Johnson chipped in 11.

Against Arizona State, Johnson had a career-high 26 digs to lead the Sooners in that game. She joined Kinley as defensive specialists with 20 or more digs.

BRIE'S BLOCK PARTY

Brianna Kadiku was a force at the net over the weekend as she put up a total of 19 blocks in three matches. Kadiku averaged 1.58 blocks per set.

The senior had a season-high nine blocks against Georgia Tech, just one block short of a career high she set last year against Kansas State.

Kadiku finished second in the Big 12 in total blocks and blocks per set this weekend. She ranks second in blocks this season with 35 and second in blocks per set (1.3).

Kadiku also added a total of 26 kills during the Nike Invitational, including a season-high 13 against Arizona State.

QUICK HITS

OU has won its last six matches straight, going undefeated at back-to-back tournaments.
The Sooners are 1-1 in road matches this season.
Oklahoma is 6-0 in the month of September.

SCOUTING REPORT

TEXAS A&M

The Aggies enter Tuesday's match at 7-1 overall and have won their last six matches straight. Texas A&M is 3-0 at home after sweeping the competition at the Texas A&M Invitational. The Aggies gave up just two sets on the weekend as they took out Texas State 3-1, Northwestern State 3-0 and UTRGV 3-1.

A&M's sole loss of the season came at the hands of No. 25 Louisville in a narrow 3-2 decision at the Cardinal Classic on Aug. 31.

Texas A&M leads the all-time series between the teams 37-8. OU won the last two meetings, both in 2018 at the Nike Invitational. The Sooners came out on top of a five-set match on Sept. 14 (3-2) before beating Texas A&M 3-1 on Sept. 15.

UP NEXT

OU is home to host SMU Saturday at 4 p.m. CT inside McCasland Field House. The contest will mark the final non-conference match of the season the Sooners open Big 12 play on Sept. 25 against TCU at home.

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