SANTA CLARA, Calif. ā Oklahoma volleyball continues to have its best start to the season (6-2) since 2019 after sweeping Tulane in a 3-0 victory, 25-12, 25-12, 25-19, on Saturday inside Leavey Center in California.
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OU earned its first victory over the Green Waves, who won the first two matches in the overall series. The Sooners out-hit Tulane .367 to .042 as they recorded their best offensive performance of the season.
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The Sooners dominated the match, leading Tulane in all categories ā points (57.5-28) kills (41-23), digs (48-36), assists (35-22) and blocks (9-2).
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Freshmen
Taylor Preston,
Alexis Shelton and
Morgan Perkins all led the Sooners offensively with nine, eight and seven kills, respectively. Shelton posted an impressive, career-high .700 hitting percentage, while Preston matched a career-high two blocks.
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Sophomore
Megan Wilson earned a career-high five service aces, while also posting 11 points. Libero
Callie Kemohah posted 21 digs, which is the most played in three sets. As a team the Sooners posted 48 digs, which the best performance in a three-set match.
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Also making her first career start for the Sooners was newcomer
Beth Bayless.
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The Sooners had a fast and furious start with a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of kills from Preston. Never looking back, OU had its largest lead of the set leading 20-8 (12-point spread). Shelton closed out the dominant set with seven kills on seven total attacks, which was a perfect hitting percentage.
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OU took the second set after the teams went back-and-forth for the opening points. Knotted at 2-2, the Sooners went on a 5-0 run after Wilson, Preston and junior
Kelsey Carrington posted three kills and a pair of errors from Tulane's Amarachi Osuji. At one point the Sooners led Tulane, 20-7 and never looked back, taking the opening set 25-12. Wilson took the lead offensively with four kills, while Perkins and Preston were close behind with three kills apiece.
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The Sooners were off and running in the third and final set, leading Tulane the entire time. OU started off with another 5-0 run, highlighted by a career-first kill for freshman
Chloe Kaminski. Wilson posted back-to-back service aces to bring the Sooners up 20-11 over Tulane. The Big 12 Offensive of the Week (Aug. 30) put the match away with a kill to close out the set, 25-19. Defensively, Perkins and graduate student
Savannah Davison led the Sooners with three blocks each in the final set, while Davison led OU with five kills.
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The Sooners complete the Santa Clara Tournament against Fresno State at 3 p.m. CT Sunday inside the Leavey Center.
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