Volleyball Signs Top-10 Class for 2022

NORMAN — Oklahoma volleyball head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton announced Wednesday the addition of four student-athletes during the 2021-22 early signing period. Joining the Sooners for the 2022 season will be Chloe Kaminski, Morgan Perkins, Taylor Preston and Morgan Perkins.

The four-member class currently ranks No. 10 in PrepVolleyball.com's 2022 class rankings. The class is the No. 3 class in the Big 12, behind only Texas and Baylor. All four athletes are ranked in the Top 150 players by PrepVolleyball.com. Preston is currently ranked No. 20, Shelton is No. 59, Perkins is No. 64 and Kaminski is No. 85.

QUOTABLE: COACH GRAY-WALTON ON 2022 SIGNING CLASS

"As a whole this 2022 class, is dynamic and physical and tireless in their work ethic. Those are all the things that they're going to bring to the volleyball court and those are things that show up in their life. This group was resilient in the recruiting process in 2020 and 2021 when we experienced COVID. With social media, the way they were able to connect, it was so special to see the class recruit the class. And we feel as a staff right now that all the things are aligning."

"It's no surprise they're a top-10 class because they are top-10 people. The character aligns with what we're trying to do, the relentless pursuit that they have to be great every day, and they truly believe the sum of the parts is what's going to help us do something that's never been done before. This group will help us get to the next level. They help the pendulum swing, and they add depth, they push the people in the positions that are currently here, and I couldn't be prouder of our staff, and the diligence that we kept through COVID, through the last three years to the recruiting process. You have to recruit every day, you have to recruit your kids, even after you've committed them, and I just can't wait for this group to finally step on campus, get their feet wet in the Sooner uniform, and experience college and what is next for this program is pretty special because everyone's aligned in that vision."

Meet the members of OU's 2022 signing class below.

CHLOE KAMINSKI

Defensive Specialist | 5-9 | Blue Springs, Mo. | Blue Springs HS | KC Power

AVCA All-Region Selection
AVCA High School All-America Honorable Mention
Three-time district champion
First-team All-District
First-team All-Conference
Two-time first-team All-State
Amassed over 1,200 career digs and 1,000 career kills
Father, Ed, threw javelin at Arkansas and was a 1996 Olympic Alternate

Kaminski on signing with Oklahoma Volleyball: "Everything about OU is a great fit for me. I love Norman, the facilities are beautiful, OU has the major I want to pursue but most of all I chose OU because of the volleyball staff and family atmosphere of the team. The energy, excitement, and competitiveness in the gym is contagious and I knew these were the kind of people I want to surround myself with. I can't wait to be a Sooner!"

Head Coach Lindsey Gray-Walton on Kaminski: "Chloe is somebody that comes from a very competitive background with a dad that competed at Arkansas and was driven to go to the Olympic trials and a mom that is definitely somebody that holds the fort down and gets everybody to all their activities, makes sure that they are on time and stays competitive in what they're doing. Chloe's been able to be wherever she shows up, just compete, and it doesn't matter if she's playing fours, ping pong, volleyball, juggling, she is an ultimate competitor, and we love that about Chloe. She's an outside, she's a libero, she's an all-everything, but we've recruited her to be a defensive specialist/libero here. "She's somebody that's just gritty, blue-collar, those are the things that come to mind when we think of her, and the first note I think about that we left for Chloe was unbelievable competitor, how do we make her a Sooner? She's the perfect complement to the class that we've assembled and the underlying similarity to all of them is they're just tireless workers and competitors that have something to prove."

MORGAN PERKINS

Middle Blocker | 6-1 | Rosharon, Texas | Episcopal HS | Houston Skyline

AVCA All-Region Selection
Amassed over 450 kills, 200 blocks, 70 solo blocks and 100 digs in her career
Ranked first in the nation with Houston Skyline in 2019
Ranked fifth in the nation with Houston Skyline in 2021

Perkins on signing with Oklahoma Volleyball: "I chose OU because of how friendly the community is, the beautiful campus, and because of amazing athletic program history. I'm looking forward to playing really good competition in our conference and making bonds with my teammates and coaches."

Head Coach Lindsey Gray-Walton on Perkins: "Morgan will forever in the 2022 class be special because she was the last phone call to be received by our staff before the roles changed in recruiting when you couldn't talk to the recruits anymore. She called that night, and we were talking about building a program of doing something that's never been done before, and she committed. She committed to that dream, committed to the journey, and it's really been fun to watch her grow into a dominant middle in the class, not just in her city, in her state, but nationally. Morgan is someone that has established herself as one of the best. She's dynamic at the net, she can hit off one foot, off two, and blocking-wise she takes ownership of being great and having a presence there. In terms of changing the position here for us, she's someone that is program-changing. And from day one when she steps on campus is going to have an ability to impact the floor, the position and the people around her. Something that I love about Morgan is that she's super authentic and true to herself and what she's trying to do, and I think Oklahoma she felt deep in her bones was the best place for her and really excited to see what her career holds."

TAYLOR PRESTON

OUTSIDE HITTER | 6-2 | Union Kentucky | St. Henry District HS | NKYVC

AVCA All-Region Selection
AVCA High School All-America First-Team
2018 KHSAA State All-Tournament Team
2018 PrepVolleyball Freshman of the Year candidate
2019 District Tournament MVP
2021 District All Tournament team
2021 Region MVP
2021 First Team All State
2021 State Tournament MVP
2021 Broke school all time kill record
2021 State Champion
Amassed over 1,300 kills, 270 blocks and 400 digs
Mother, Michele, ran track at the University of Idaho. Father, Kevin, played basketball at Wichita State.

Preston on signing with Oklahoma Volleyball: "I chose OU because of many things. The relationship I built with the coaches and the family aspect of the team was one of them. Being far away from home and family, having people that I can go to and count on when I don't have my parents/family was important to me in making my decision and talking with the coaching staff and team has made me confident and comfortable knowing I will have them while at OU. Volleyball having its own facility caught my eye and of course the football stadium and all other athletic facilities as well. This team has so much potential, and the coaching staff is building a top program that I knew I wanted to be a part of and one day help to lead to a national championship and make an impact on OU volleyball after my 4 years as a Sooner!"

Head Coach Lindsey Gray-Walton on Preston: ""Taylor is a six-foot, six-rotation, all-everything and I say all-everything because we've recruited her to be an outside here, but if you watch her high-school team, if you watch her play club, she's lined up in the middle, she swings on the rights, she swings on the left, swings out of the middle, plays six rotations. What drew us to Taylor was how she competes, how she makes those around her compete, how she brings the best out of her teammates, and she can do anything at any time. She's a smooth volleyball player with all the skills, with more repetitions at the highest level in our gym and in our league, she's going to find herself on a court competing at a high level as well. She's somebody right now that is playing her best volleyball, and you love to see that in your seniors right now, that they're still hungry to compete, still hungry to do something, and they haven't taken any reps off because their drive is to come in and do some things as a class and as individuals. I know Taylor is somebody that's going to lead that charge because of her tireless work ethic, and we're just really excited to welcome her to the family and welcome her in. From day one, she's going to give everything for the Oklahoma Sooners, and that's exciting because we can do a lot of things and when you play hard, good things happen, so we're excited to see what the future holds."

ALEXIS SHELTON

Outside Hitter | 6-1 | Charlotte, N.C. | Ardrey Kell HS | CUVC

AVCA All-Region Selection
AVCA High School All-America First-Team
NC 4A State Runner-Up 2019, 2020, 2021
All-State 2019-2020 & 2020-2021
All-Region 2019-2020 & 2020-2021
All-Conference 2019-2020 & 2020-2021
2019 Track and field
- triple-jump All-American
- 100m hurdles All-American
- 200m hurdles All-American
- pentathlon All-American
Amassed over 1,000 kills, 130 aces and 130 blocks in her career.aqQ
Mom, Angel Willis, ran track at Clemson, Dad, Brandon Shelton, ran track at Southern Illinois

Shelton on signing with Oklahoma Volleyball: "I chose Oklahoma because of the amazing coaching staff and beautiful campus. It just felt like home to me. I'm most looking forward to having fun with all my teammates."

Head Coach Lindsey Gray-Walton on Shelton: "Alexis is a six-foot outside, six-rotation outside to be exact, from North Carolina that is somebody that has just blossomed into the player that she is today and is excited about the work that she has ahead of her to become the player that she wants to be in the future. She's somebody that just competes, competes hard, and good things happen when you do that, and so she's seen herself make the Team USA U19 national training program, lead her team to a 27-1 state run, be a part of an 18 open team when she's only seventeen, so she's playing up and competing amongst the best and holding her own and we see those all as really transferable qualities here. In the position of an outside, you have a lot on you, you have to pass, you have to play defense, you have to block, you have to attack, you have to serve, and Alexis has an ability to do each of the skills really well, like a five-tool player in baseball, and somebody that wants that. She wants to touch the ball as often as possible, she wants to make big plays, and so we want those types of people in our program. We're excited to see how she pushes the position of the outsides with the two that we already have here now. She really enhances our depth, enhances our ability to compete and win championships."