Big 12 Play Continues with Kansas State and TCU

NORMAN – The conference slate continues for Oklahoma volleyball with its return to McCasland Field House, hosting Kansas State at 6 p.m. Wednesday, before heading on the road for its fifth trip to the Lone Star State where they face TCU at 6 p.m. Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.

"The emphasis this week was back to the pillars of focus from the beginning of the spring," head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton said. "Kansas State and TCU both are good tests with different offensive systems that will challenge our defensive mentalities. Our serve and pass game will be what creates our opportunities to score points. That's been a fundamental identity to how we've had consistent success."

OU has a 6-2 home record and 3-3 for away matches, while looking to earn its first conference win on the road this season.

Wednesday will serve as a Mental Health Awareness match for the Sooners. Free green Mental Health Awareness bracelets will be available for fans while supplies last.

For fans in attendance, doors at McCasland Field House open an hour before the match. Parking is available in the Field House lot on the east side of McCasland Field House or the Duck Pond lot on the corner of West Brooks Street and South Jenkins Avenue.

OU Athletics' clear bag policy will be in effect and walk-through metal detectors will be utilized. More information can be found here.

Season and single-match tickets are on sale for the 2022 season. Fans can purchase online through SoonerSports.com or by calling the OU ticket office at (405) 325-2424. Adults are $7 and youth/senior tickets are $5.

The Sooners lead the overall series with the Wildcats 58-36-1, while having a 30-15 record at home. OU split a pair of matches with Kansas State last season inside McCasland and looking for its first sweep at home since Sept. 21, 2018, and first overall since Nov. 20, 2019 (Manhattan, Kansas). Under head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton, OU has a 5-3 record against Kansas State.

"The crowd against Iowa State was great, and we would love to see that again for our Mental Health Awareness match tomorrow against Kansas State," Gray-Walton noted.

OU leads the overall series with TCU 17-9, including 8-4 on the road. The Sooners split a pair of matches with the Horned Frogs last season in Fort Worth and looking for their first sweep at TCU since March 5, 2021. OU is 5-4 against TCU in the Gray-Walton era.

Wednesday's match can be viewed on SoonerVision on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. with live stats available through OU's StatBroadcast page. For more information on how to watch this week's home match, click here. The Sooners return to the national stage on Friday, airing at 12:30 p.m. on ESPNU, with live stats available through TCU's SIDEARM Stats page.

BIG 12 STORYLINES

LAST TIME OUT

The Sooners dropped a pair of conference matches last week, 3-1, at Texas Tech last Wednesday and against Iowa State during Alumni Weekend last Saturday.
During Wednesday's loss against the Red Raiders, Sophomore Payton Chamberlain added her first double-double as a Sooner with 34 assists and a career-high 12 digs. Defensively, sophomore libero Callie Kemohah led the way with her sixth 20+ digs match this season with 22.
In Saturday's loss, sophomore Megan Wilson and graduate student Savannah Davison led the offense with 15 kills apiece. Defensively, Wilson led the way with a career-high seven blocks, while junior Kelsey Carrington came off the bench with six blocks.

NATION'S BEST

A pair of Sooners rank in the top 30 among Division I volleyball players in four statistical categories.
Wilson ranks 10th in aces per set with 0.61 and 14th in total aces with 37. She is the only Big 12 player in the top 20 in both categories. The sophomore is also 30th nationally in points per set with 4.72.
Freshman Morgan Perkins is back in the top 30, ranked 28th in blocks per set with 1.31 and is the second-best freshman in that category.
As a team, the Sooners rank 28th in both hitting percentage (.262) and blocks per set (2.57).

BATTLING IN THE BIG 12

As a team, OU is third in service aces per set (1.47) behind upcoming Big 12 foe Kansas State and top-ranked Texas.
Multiple Sooners hold top-10 rankings in the current conference standings. Wilson leads the Big 12 in service aces per set (0.61) and total service aces (37). She also ranks second in the league with 4.72 points per set and 288 points, while fifth in the league with 3.67 kills per set.
Kemohah tops the conference in digs per set (4.75) and is second with 304 total digs. Perkins is the top freshman in blocks per set (1.33), hitting percentage (.415) and total blocks (73). Perkins is second in blocks per set and third in hitting percentage overall. Chamberlain ranks fourth with 9.63 assists per set.
In conference games only, Perkins moves to second with a .441 hitting percentage and tied for 10th with blocks per set. Wilson is third in the league with 0.45 service aces per set, eighth in kills per set (3.25) and points per set (4.05).
Chamberlain's 8.91 assists per set ranks sixth in conference play, while Kemohah moved up to fifth in digs per set (3.82).

SIX FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

The 2022 team has already etched their name six times in the record books.
As a team, the Sooners set program records for aces (11) and block assists (30) in a four-set match, along with 28 block assists in a three-set match.
Wilson's five aces in a three-set match is tied for the most in program history, while moving up to third in aces for a single season with 37. This is Wilson's fourth mark in the record book after posting 392 kills and 20 solo blocks during the 2021 season, putting her seventh and tied for fifth, respectively.
Perkins has already made her mark in the record book after setting a program record for 11 block assists in a three-set match against Texas Southern (Sept. 16).

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE

The Wildcats are one of seven Big 12 schools ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI rankings at No. 71. Coming off a pair of losses last week against No. 1 Texas and TCU, Kansas State enters Wednesday's match 11-8 overall with a 2-4 mark in conference play.
Kansas State earned its first Big 12 road win of the season, sweeping West Virginia in Morgantown, on Oct. 5. Wildcat head coach Suzie Fritz is just three victories away from 200 career victories in Big 12 matches with 197.
The Wildcats squad leads the conference with 127 service aces, 1.79 service aces per set and 192.5 blocks. They are also second in blocks per set (2.71).
Two Kansas State players sit in the top three of two major statistical categories. Junior libero Mackenzie Morris leads the Big 12 with 315 digs and third in digs per set (4.44). Senior Sydney Bolding is third in total blocks (88), blocks per set (1.29) and total service aces (31), while also fourth in service aces per set (0.46).
Freshman Shaylee Myers earned her first career Big 12 weekly honor after being named Rookie Player of the Week on Oct. 4. She averaged 4.50 kills per set in Kansas State's two matches during the sixth week of the season, including leading all players with 17 kills in a sweep of Iowa State. Myers sits fourth in the conference in kills per set (3.71) and points per set (4.27).

SCOUTING TCU

The Horned Frogs are one of seven Big 12 schools ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI rankings at No. 58. TCU is currently 9-9 overall with a 4-3 mark in conference play.
Last week, TCU split a pair of matches in the Sunflower State - first being swept by Kansas in Lawrence, 3-0, last Wednesday, before the Horned Frogs reverse swept the Kansas State, 3-2, last Saturday to secure their best start to Big 12 play since 2015. With 1,008 kills to date, senior Julia Adams hit the 1,000 career-kill mark during the victory in Manhattan.
On Oct. 8, senior Audrey Nalls landed a career-high 26 kills while leading the Horned Frogs to a 3-1 victory over Texas Tech in front of the second-largest crowd in TCU history (3,129). Graduate student Callie Williams posted 61 assists, which is the most by any Big 12 player in a single match this season.
Nalls collected her second Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honor for the season after leading the Horned Frogs with a 3-1 victory over Texas Tech on Oct. 8. Following her first career honor in the offensive category on Sept. 27, Nalls earned her third all-conference weekly honor in her career. Currently in the Big 12, Nalls sits in the top three in the following statistical categories - second in total kills (261) and third in total points (286.5) and kills per set (3.73). She's also fifth in points per set with 4.09.

QUICK HITTERS

OU's 10-2 non-conference record marks their best non-conference start since 2013, along with the Gray-Walton era.
The Sooners are 189-291 all-time in Big 12 play and 11-16 all-time in conference openers. Under Gray-Walton, OU is 28-35 in Big 12 play and 2-3 in league openers.
Eight of OU's regular season opponents earned berths in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, including seven conference foes - No. 1 Texas, No. 14 Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and West Virginia. The Longhorns reached the Elite Eight while the Jayhawks and Bears each advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
OU will host every Big 12 team (eight) at home in 2022, including its regular season and Senior Night against TCU on Nov. 26.

NEXT SERVE

The Sooners will return to McCasland Field House to host No. 14 Baylor next Wednesday, Oct. 26, before heading to the Sunflower State to face Kansas next Sunday, Oct. 30, in Lawrence.

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Big 12 Play Continues with Kansas State and TCU