Volleyball to Open 2021 Season Friday

Friday, August 27

Norman

5:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

Oregon State

Photo by: Ty Russell

August 26, 2021 | Volleyball

Tickets Stats Match Notes

By: Lindsey Morrison

Oklahoma

Oregon State

Lipscomb

Houston

Oklahoma Invitational / Aug. 27-28 / McCasland Field House / Norman

NORMAN — The Oklahoma volleyball team is set to open the 2021 season this weekend when they host the OU Invitational inside McCasland Field House, Aug. 28-29.

OU opens the tournament with Oregon State on Friday at 5 p.m. CT. The Sooners will face Lipscomb at noon Saturday, followed by Houston at 7 p.m. CT. The matches against Oregon State and Lipscomb will air on Bally Sports Oklahoma. The final match against Houston can be streamed on Sooner Sports TV.

WEEKEND STORYLINES

GUESS WHO'S BACK

The Sooners return 10 student-athletes from the 2020 roster, including Paige Anderson and Sarah Sanders who opted to take their COVID fifth year. Anderson returns after being sidelined in 2020 with injury. Also returning are seniors Sabrina Simms and Aysia Harty; juniors Olivia LittleJim (nee Curtis), Abby Butler and Grace Talpash; and sophomore Kelsey Carrington, Sam Anthony and Tyler Alcorn. Anderson and Sanders have both earned All-Big 12 honors with Sanders earning first-team honors in 2019 and Anderson being named to the second team. Sanders was also an All-Southwest Honorable Mention selection in 2019.

OU Invitational Schedule
Date	Opponents	Time (CT)
Aug. 27	Houston v. Lipscomb	3 p.m.
Aug. 27	Oklahoma v. Oregon State	5 p.m.
Aug. 28	Oklahoma v. Lipscomb	Noon
Aug. 28	Oregon State v. Houston	2:30 p.m.
Aug. 28	Oklahoma v. Houston	7 p.m.

THE FRESHMAN FIVE

Head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton signed an impressive class in November 2020. Kristen Birmingham, Callie Cogdill, Peyton Dunn, Callie Kemohah and Megan Wilson will make their collegiate debuts for the Sooners in 2021.

A 6-1 outside hitter out of Kansas City, Mo., Birmingham was a four-year letterwinner at Park Hill High School. She notched 745 kills, 120 blocks, 458 digs and 28 aces in her high school career. She was named to the Under Armour All-American Third Team. A native of Cypress, Texas, Cogdill was a four-year letterwinner at Cypress Woods High School. In her career, she tallied 1,200 digs, including 568 in her junior season.Cogdill has added 640 assists and 75 aces to her career numbers.

A 5-11 setter, Dunn was a three-year letter winner out of Legend High School. Her freshman season, she played in the final four of the state tournament, followed by an elite eight appearance as a sophomore. As a senior, she was named to the Under Armour All-American Third Team.As a junior, Dunn tallied 1,407 assists, 416 digs, 300 kills and 106 aces in her high school career. Kemohah is a 5-6 libero out of Lucas, Texas where she was a four-year letterwinner at Lovejoy High School. As a senior, she was named to the Under Armour All-American Third Team.In her career, she tallied 1,519 digs, 255 assists and 97 aces.

Wilson is a 6-4 middle blocker/outside hitter out of Kingwood High School in Kingwood, Texas. She was named to the Under Armour All-American Third Team. In two seasons, she notched 438 kills, 103 blocks, 127 digs and 41 aces. She was a district champion as a junior.

LEAD THE WAY

The Sooners have added two new assistant coaches in Ciara Jones and Travis Magorien. Jones joined the Sooners in August after spending four seasons at Howard University as an assistant coach. Jones played for Marquette from 2008-12 under the leadership of Head Coach Bond Shymansky (Iowa) and Clemson's head coach Michaela Franklin's time as an assistant coach with the Golden Eagles. She was a four-year letterwinner where she led the Golden Eagles to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011, a season in which she was named a Big East First Team All-American. Jones earned Marquette Athletics' Outstanding Female Leadership & Service Award in 2012 and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2011-12.

Magorien comes to Oklahoma after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at James Madison. Magorien was a four-year team captain and letterwinner as a setter for Cal State Northridge, where he led the team in sets for three consecutive years. He ranks seventh all-time in assists with 2,911 over 345 sets at CSUN.

CANADIAN CONNECTION

Joining the Sooners in 2021 is graduate transfer Savannah Davison, a native of Toronto, Ontario. Davison spent four seasons at New Mexico State, where she redshirted as a freshman before leading the Aggies to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019.

Davison was a member of the 2020 WAC Regular Season Championship Team and 2019 WAC Tournament Championship team. She was a two-time first-team All-WAC selection and a WAC All-Freshman team selection. In her final season with the Aggies, Davison notched 182 kills and 144 digs as she helped the team to a 16-2 record. In 18 games, she recorded double-digit kills in 10 and tallied six double-doubles. Davison was named to the VolleyballMag.com Honorable Mention All-America team.

QUICK HITTERS

The Sooners are 23-24 all-time in season openers and have won six of their last 10 openers.
Four of OU's regular season opponents earned berths in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, including Georgia Tech, Lipscomb and conference foes Baylor and Texas. Texas claimed a runner-up finish in the national title match in 2020.
The Sooners will open the season at home before hitting the road for nine of their next 10 matches. OU will face nine opponents on the road in the month of September, hosting only Abilene Christian on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE

The Beavers will open the season Friday against the Sooners. OSU is coming off a 5-13 campaign in 2020. OU narrowly leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 3-2. The Sooners have won the last three meetings, the most recent being a 3-2 victory in 2019. OSU returns All-Pac 12 selection Grace Massey who was second in the league with 4.21 digs per set and sixth with 261 total digs.

SCOUTING LIPSCOMB

Lipscomb, the defending ASUN champion, was picked to finish second in the league in 2021. The Bisons also had two preseason all-conference selections in Delaney Dilfer and Meg Mersman. The Bisons made the 2020 NCAA Tournament after a 17-3 campaign. Lipscomb fell to Georgia Tech in the first round. OU will face Georgia Tech on Sept. 12 in Atlanta. This will be only the second meeting between the two teams. OU leads the all-time series, 1-0, after defeating Lipscomb, 3-1, in 2003.

SCOUTING HOUSTON

Houston is set to open the season Friday against Lipscomb. The Cougars enter the 2021 season after a 13-6 showing in 2020. The Cougars won the American Athletic Conference West Division for the first time, appearing in the conference championship. Houston ultimately fell to Temple, 3-1, in the championship to finish second in the league. The Cougars return all five of their 2020 all-conference selections in 2021, including 2020 AAC Freshman and Setter of the Year, Annie Cooke. The Sooners and Cougars have met 10 times in program history with Houston holding a 7-3 advantage. OU won the last meeting with a 3-2 victory in Houston in 2010.