OU to Face Kansas State in Manhattan

NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team begins a tough four-game road stretch when it travels to Manhattan, Kan., to take on Kansas State. The Sooners and Wildcats will face off inside Bramlage Coliseum Thursday Oct. 22 and Friday, Oct. 23. Both matches are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT and will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

WEEKEND STORYLINES

LAST TIME OUT
Taking on the Kansas Jayhawks, the Sooners finally found themselves in the win column, picking up a come-from-behind, 3-2, victory and a 3-0 sweep. Trailing 2-0 in the first match of the weekend, the Sooners pulled off the reverse sweep to take down Kansas, 13-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-13. Kansas claimed the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-23 before OU pulled off the reverse sweep and won the final three sets to claim the match. The Sooners took set three 25-22, before dominating set four, 25-16. The match came down to the wire with OU pulling out the 15-13 win.

On Saturday, the Sooners got their first sweep of the season, defeating Kansas 28-26, 25-22, 25-20. Kansas jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the first set, but the Sooners stormed back and forced the set to a tie at 18-all. Facing set point, the Sooners used a Kansas error to take set one, 28-26. Trailing 19-15 in the second set, the Sooners used a 6-0 run to take the lead. Guewe Diouf secured the 25-22 set win with her ninth kill of the night. In the final set, the Sooners took an early lead before Kansas tied the match at 10-all. The teams went back-and-forth up to a tie at 16-all before the Sooners used a 9-4 run to secure the final set, 25-20.

DOMINANT DIOUF
Freshman Guewe Diouf has come out swinging for the Sooners as the offensive leader. In all six matches this season, the freshman has notched double-digit kills, with a career-best 20 against Baylor (10.8).

Diouf leads the team with 90 kills and an average of 3.91 kills per set. Diouf also ranks second on the team with 47 digs. The Marignane, France, native has notched two double-doubles in 2020. Her first came at Baylor with 20 kills and 13 digs and her second against Kansas with 15 kills and 15 digs. Against Kansas, Diouf was the only player with double-digit kills on night two with 14.

TYLER'S BLOCK PARTY
Tyler Alcorn had an impressive outing on Saturday night against Kansas. Alcorn led all players with six blocks on the night to set her career-high. She got in on the block that secured the sweep for the Sooners in the third set. The Lafayette, La., native also added seven kills on a .385 clip. Her seven kills ranked third among all players Saturday.

DIOUF NAMED BIG 12 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Oklahoma outside hitter Guewe Diouf has been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the second time this season, the conference announced Tuesday. Diouf was named the Rookie of the Week on Sept. 29 after the opening weekend of play. She is the first Sooner to win multiple awards in one season since Keyton Kinley in 2018 and the first freshman to be named Rookie of the Week twice since Audrey Alford in 2015.

The Marignane, France, native tallied 29 kills on the weekend to lead the Sooners offensively with 3.63 kills per set. Diouf notched a double-double on Friday against Kansas with 15 kills and 15 digs. On Saturday, she added another 14 kills and eight digs. Her 23 digs on the weekend ranked second on the team. Diouf has now tallied double-digit kills in all six matches this season and has two double-doubles on the year. Diouf also added two service aces and four blocks to help the Sooners to a pair of victories over Kansas.

REMEMBER THIS?
The first time the Sooners and Wildcats met in 2019 was a night to be remembered. K-State took the first two sets and looked to be on their way to sweeping the Sooners inside McCasland before OU pulled off the reverse sweep. The contest came down to the wire in the fifth set with the Sooners prevailing 16-14.

OU came back from a 10-4 deficit and tied the frame at 12-all as Brianna Kadiku and Ashlynn Dunbar put up a wall on the outside. Kansas State won the next point, but Sarah Sanders blasted her 10th kill of the night to level the score at 13-13. The Wildcats would score again before a Kansas State service error made it 14-14. Dunbar came up big for the Sooners, firing off back-to-back kills to put the match away for OU. The second meeting between the two teams would be much less stressful for the Sooners as they swept K-State easily in Manhattan.

QUICK HITS

The Sooners are back on the road for the second time this month. OU will play six matches on the road in October and just one series at home.
The Sooners lead the all-time series, 57-33-1, and have won the last four matchups between the two teams.
OU is looking to extend its winning streak while K-State is looking to snap a two-match losing streak.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE

The Wildcats are 3-3 on the season with wins over West Virginia and Iowa State. K-State has played four five-set matches and is 2-2 with both wins coming against West Virginia. The Wildcats most recently played No. 1 Texas, taking the Longhorns to five sets in game one. K-State fell to Texas in both matches.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will wrap up the month of October with a pair of matches at Iowa State. The teams will face off on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 inside Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

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

WEEKEND STORYLINES

QUICK HITS

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE

UP NEXT

Players Mentioned

Tyler Alcorn

Guewe Diouf

Ashlynn Dunbar

Brianna Kadiku

Keyton Kinley

Sarah Sanders

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics