Defense Dominates in Win at WVU

Saturday, September 28

at Morgantown, W. Va.

1:00 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

10-3, 2-0

West Virginia *

8-6, 0-2

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Photo by: Ty Russell

September 28, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Oklahoma volleyball team picked up its first Big 12 road win with a four-set victory over West Virginia Saturday behind a dominant effort by the defense. OU (10-3, 2-0 Big 12) took down the Mountaineers (8-6, 0-2 Big 12) 25-8, 25-23, 29-31, 25-21.

The defense stole the show, holding West Virginia to a .121 hitting percentage, the second lowest by an opponent this season. Sooners players combined for 70 digs in the contest as libero Keyton Kinley led the effort with 24. Two more players added double-digit digs as Aysia Harty had 13 and Ashylnn Dunbar added 12.

At the net, OU registered 13.0 total blocks, just one short of the Sooners' season best. Brianna Kadiku and Paige Anderson dominated, with Kadiku contributing to seven blocking efforts and Anderson to six.

Offensively, the Sooners swung .217 with 64 kills in the match as three Sooners registered kills in double figures. Ashlynn Dunbar led the way with 19 and added 12 digs for her third straight double-double. Sarah Sanders tallied 17 kills on a season-high .400 clip, while Paige Anderson added 12 kills of her own.

Setter Kylee McLaughlin paced the offense with 51 assists. The junior also added three kills.

OU came out firing in the first set, giving up just eight points to the Mountaineers to win the frame 25-8. The Sooners were nearly flawless on offense as they put down 11 kills on 19 attempts with just two errors for .474. OU's defense held West Virginia to .-208.

The Sooners worked their way back from an early deficit to win set two 25-23. The back-and-forth set saw ties up to 22-22 before Dunbar took over. The grad transfer registered her second service ace to make it 23-22 OU, then brought up set point at 24-22 with a kill. West Virginia would score again, but Dunbar put the frame away with a blast out of the back row for her 11^th kill of the day.

West Virginia prevailed in a marathon third set, 31-29. In the final set, OU held off the Mountaineers 25-21. The Mountaineers came within one at 21-20, but OU's Sanders exploded in the final points, going back-to-back to end the match for the Sooners.

Up Next

OU continues conference play on the road Wednesday with Baylor. The contest is slated for a 7 p.m. CT start.

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