Sooners Welcome Wildcats to Norman

Oklahoma

Kansas State

Friday, Oct. 1 / 5 p.m. CT / Saturday, Oct. 2 / 4 p.m. CT / McCasland Field House / Norman, Okla.

NORMAN — Big 12 volleyball action is in full swing, and the Oklahoma volleyball team will welcome Kansas State to Norman for a pair of matches Friday and Saturday.

The matches will air on Bally Sports Oklahoma with live stats available at oustats.com

WEEKEND STORYLINES

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners opened Big 12 play on the road at West Virginia, dropping both matches to the Mountaineers. West Virginia took the first match in four sets (25-23, 25-14, 21-25, 25-22) and the second match also in four sets (25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22).

Peyton Dunn recorded a double-double in the first match of the weekend with 42 assists and 10 digs, her fourth of the season. Paige Anderson led the offense with 16 kills on a .414 clip.

In game two, Callie Kemohah was just shy of her career high with 26 kills.

HOME SWEET HOME
With Big 12 play beginning, the Sooners will compete inside the friendly confines of McCasland Field House on a much more consistent basis. OU spent most of the month of September away from Norman with nine of its 10 matches being played on the road. The Sooners have only played four of 13 matches at home this season. OU will host four Big 12 teams inside the Field House and will be at home every other week throughout the remainder of the season.

MAKE A MARK
The 2021 team has already made a mark in the record books. Callie Kemohah's 29 digs in a four-set match against Mississippi State (Sept. 10) are tied for the most in program history. Kemohah is the third Sooner to achieve the mark. As a team, the Sooners tied the program record for solo blocks in a four-set match with 4.0 against Lipscomb (Aug. 28).

YOUNG AND HUNGRY
The underclassmen on the 2021 team have been called on to make an immediate impact and have done just that. The only two Sooners to play in every single set this year are freshmen Peyton Dunn and Callie Kemohah. Dunn grabbed the starting setter job and has been a do-it-all athlete as she ranks second on the team in blocks (37.0) and third in digs (99). Kemohah has filled the shoes left by two-time conference libero of the year Keyton Kinley and leads the team with 218 digs and could break into the record books for digs in a season.

Megan Wilson has controlled the offense for the Sooners, leading the team with 205 kills and a 4.02 kills/set mark. Kristen Birmingham has appeared in 40 sets for the Sooners and made impact plays. The freshman's 31.0 blocks rank third on the team with sophomore Kelsey Carrington. Sophomore Sam Anthony has seen significant time as a defensive specialist and ranks second on the team with 113 digs in 51 sets played. Tyler Alcorn has appeared in 27 sets and posted 27.0 total blocks to go with 18 kills.

ANDERSON'S GOT AMMO
Senior Paige Anderson had an impressive weekend against West Virginia as she set a career high with 18 kills in Saturday's four-set loss. Anderson also added 16 kills in Friday's match to lead the team with 3 on the weekend. The senior has now tallied double-digit kills in six matches this season and had 10-plus in each of the last three. Anderson also leads the defense with 60.0 blocks on the year and 9.0 solo blocks. Her eight blocks against Lipscomb are the most by a Sooner this season.

DUNN DOES IT ALL
Freshman setter Peyton Dunn has made an immediate impact to the OU offense in her first season with the Sooners. The Parker, Colo., native has notched at least 35 assists in every match this season and has tallied 40-plus in six matches with a career-best of 50 against Houston (Aug. 28). The freshman has also recorded a double-double on four occasions, most recently at West Virginia on Sept. 25. Dunn has done it all this season tallying 520 assists (10.00/set), 43 kills, 99 digs and 37.0 blocks. The freshman ranks is 21st in the nation in total assists with 520 and one of only two Big 12 players in the top 30.

WONDERFUL WILSON
Megan Wilson has come out swinging in her freshman campaign and leads the team with 205 kills (4.02/set) in 2021. Wilson has notched double-digit kills in all but one match this year with a career-high of 22 against Indiana (Sept. 10). The Texas native has tallied at least 15 kills in nine matches and posted marks of 20-plus on two occasions. She has added 13 service aces, 26 digs and 21.0 blocks this season.

Wilson holds the top two spots in the league in kills in three-set matches with 20 (Abilene Christian) and 18 (Gonzaga). The freshman also holds the fourth spot with 17 against Seattle.

BATTLING IN THE BIG 12
Multiple Sooners hold top-10 rankings in the current conference standings. Megan Wilson ranks third in the league with 4.02/kills per set and second with 205 total kills. Savannah Davison ranks seventh with 3.50 kills/set. Davison's 25 kills against Houston are the third most by a Big 12 athlete in a match this season. Peyton Dunn ranks third in assists/set at 10.00 and second with 520 total assists. Dunn is one of just two Big 12 players with over 500 assists this season. Callie Kemohah sits in fourth with 4.19 digs per set, but second in total digs at 218. Kemohah's 29 digs against Mississippi State are the most by any Big 12 player in a match. Paige Anderson is 10th in blocks/set at 1.18 and second in the league with 60 total blocks.

IT'S A BRAND NEW SEASON
The Big 12 schedule once again has a different look than normal for the 2021 season. Programs will play a double round-robin format of 16 matches scheduled in eight double-headers with competition against the same opponent in consecutive days at the same site. The team(s) that finishes with the highest winning percentage will be crowned the Big 12 champion.

Previously, teams played a double round-robin format that featured eight home matches and eight road matches against all conference opponents. This is the second season the teams will play the new format after adopting it in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
Kansas State is 9-4 on the season and is coming off a pair of losses against No. 10 Baylor to open conference play. Every loss on the Wildcats schedule has come to a ranked team as they fell to then-No. 5 Nebraska (3-1) and then No. 21 Pepperdine (3-0). Prior to the losses to Baylor, K-State had won eight-straight matches.

The offense is led by Aliyah Carter who boasts a league-best 207 kills and a 4.14 kills/set average. Teana Adams-Kaonohi has paced the offense with 532 assists and is the only player other than OU's Dunn to record over 500 assists this season. Kayde Fernholz leads the defense with 50 blocks while Mackenzie Morris has racked up 189 digs.

QUICK HITTERS

The Sooners are 184-276 all-time in Big 12 play and 11-15 all-time in conference openers. Under Lindsey Gray-Walton, the Sooners are 23-25 in Big 12 play and 1-3 in league 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 face four Big 12 opponents at home in 2021. OU will host Kansas State (Oct. 1-2), Texas Tech (Oct. 15-16), Iowa State (Nov. 5-6) and Baylor (Nov. 23-24).

UP NEXT

The Sooners will travel to the Lone Star State to face TCU, Oct. 8-9. The Friday, Oct. 8, match will air on ESPNU at 2 p.m. The Oct. 9 match is set for a 6:30 p.m. start on ESPN+.

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

WEEKEND STORYLINES

QUICK HITTERS

UP NEXT

Players Mentioned

Tyler Alcorn

Paige Anderson

Sam Anthony

Kristen Birmingham

Kelsey Carrington

Savannah Davison

Peyton Dunn

Callie Kemohah

Keyton Kinley

Megan Wilson

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics