Sooners Set for Lubbock Road Trip

NORMAN – – The Oklahoma volleyball team returns to the court for the first time since Oct. 23 to take on Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, Thursday and Friday. Both matches will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

The Sooners are back on the court after missing two weekends of matches due to issues with COVID-19. OU was scheduled to play Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and TCU in Norman, Nov. 6-7.

WEEKEND STORYLINES

LAST TIME OUT
On the road in the Little Apple, the Sooners dropped a pair of matches to then No. 13 Kansas State, Oct. 16-17. K-State swept the first match, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22. On Friday, the teams went to a decisive fifth-set with K-State earning the 3-2 victory. The Wildcats defeated the Sooners 23-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-21, 13-15.

The Sooners defense had a strong night with 19.0 blocks to K-State's 7.0. Kelsey Carrington led the way with a career-high nine blocks, with Tyler Alcorn getting in on eight. Sarah Maras and Sarah Sanders chipped in five blocks apiece.

#BLOCKTOBER
Against Kansas State, the Sooners notched a season-high 19.0 blocks, led by freshman Kelsey Carrington's career-high nine. Fellow freshman Tyler Alcorn set her career-high with eight blocks also against K-State.

In the month of October, the Sooners tallied 52.0 blocks, while allowing just 44.5 to their opponents. OU notched at least 6.0 blocks in every October match. The Sooners only allowed 10.0-plus blocks in one match during the month of October and allowed less than seven in three of six matches.

MAKING THEIR MARK
The newcomers to the 2020 squad have made their marks early in their freshmen seasons. Tyler Alcorn has played in 26 sets with six starts. She has notched 20 kills and added 25 blocks. Her 25 blocks rank second on the team. Sam Anthony has appeared in all eight matches and played in 22 sets. She has tallied 35 digs and 14 assists, along with four service aces. Kelsey Carrington has played in 15 sets over seven matches with three starts. She has notched 10 kills to go with 18 blocks, ranking third on the team. Guewe Diouf leads the team with 111 kills and an average of 3.58 kills per set. Diouf also ranks second on the team with 55 digs.

A LOOK BACK
The Sooners swept the season series with Texas Tech in 2019. OU earned a 3-1 win in Lubbock before prevailing in a five set match in Norman.
In Lubbock on Oct. 26, OU swung .165 in the match while holding Texas Tech to .146. The Sooners just edged Tech in kills 58-57 but the defense shone once again as OU posted a season-high 16.0 blocks to Texas Tech's 9.0. On Nov. 13 in Norman, the Sooners rallied for the 3-2 win over the Red Raiders. After the Red Raiders won the first set 27-25, the Sooners responded with a 25-18 win in the second. Texas Tech once again took the advantage, winning the third 25-22, but Oklahoma held on to win set four 25-16 and set five 15-11.

QUICK HITS

The Sooners lead the all-time series, 39-35, and have won nine straight matchups dating back to the 2015 season. In that stretch, the Sooners have posted four sweeps over Tech and given up just seven sets.
All four freshman have seen extensive playing time for the Sooners with all appearing in at least 15 sets.
The Sooners were 5-2 in the month of November in 2019, with three sweeps and a four-set win over TCU.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

Texas Tech is 3-9 on the season with wins over West Virginia, Iowa State and TCU. Tech is coming off a pair of losses to Kansas State, falling 3-2 and 3-0 to the Wildcats.
Allison Bloss leads Tech with a .352 hitting percentage, good for fifth in the conference. Alex Kirby ranks fourth in the league with 9.62 assists per set.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will finish out the 2020 season with a pair of matches inside McCasland Field House, Nov. 19-20. The 2020 senior class will be honored after Friday's match.

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

WEEKEND STORYLINES

QUICK HITS

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

UP NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyler Alcorn

Sam Anthony

Kelsey Carrington

Guewe Diouf

Sarah Maras

Sarah Sanders

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics