Sooners Open Big 12 Play with Red River Rivalry

Oklahoma

¹Texas

Saturday, Sept. 24 / 7 p.m. CT / Live Stats / Longhorn Network / Match Notes / Austin, Texas / Gregory Gymnasium

NORMAN — After wrapping up its best non-conference record (10-2) since 2013 last week, the Oklahoma volleyball team opens conference play on the road for the Red River Rivalry against No. 1 Texas.

First serve is set for 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 24 inside Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, TX. Live stats will be available through Texas' SIDEARM Stats page and will air on the Longhorn Network.

The last time the Sooners beat the Longhorns was Oct. 25, 2014, for a 3-0 sweep in Austin. It was also the last time OU defeated a ranked opponent on the road.

WEEKEND STORYLINES

HER-STORIC NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

The Sooners went 2-0 last Friday in McCasland Field House after sweeping both Texas Southern and Nevada to complete their non-conference slate.
OU's 10-2 record marks their best non-conference start since 2013, along with the Gray-Walton era.
The Sooners played a dominating match against Texas Southern and swept the Tigers 3-0 (25-20, 25-11, 25-9). Freshman Morgan Perkins posted her first career double-double and career-high with 10 kills and 11 blocks, topping her performance off with an impressive .769 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Megan Wilson also put on a show tallying 10 kills with a career-high .500 hitting percentage, while graduate student Savannah Davison posted nine kills and a career-high five blocks.
Match two of the day saw the Sooners in a competitive match against Nevada, but the Sooners pulled off the 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-18) sweep. Freshman Taylor Preston led the attack for all players with 12 kills on a .333 clip.
Freshman Alexis Shelton added 11 kills and a career-high five digs, while sophomore setter Payton Chamberlain dished out 31 assists. The backcourt defense was controlled by sophomore libero Callie Kemohah who recorded 17 digs and six assists.
The Sooners out-hit the Wolf Pack .307 to .109 and offensively dominated the match the whole way through.

BIG 12 WEEKLY AWARDS SWEEP-STAKES

For the first time in program history, Oklahoma volleyball swept the Big 12's weekly awards.
Wilson was named Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. She leads the Sooners and is third in the conference with 159 kills, as well as leading OU and the conference in total aces (28) and aces per set (0.68). She also sits in second with 5.05 points per set and total points (207). Wilson moved to sixth in program history for total aces in a season after posting three aces against Texas Southern last weekend.
Defensive Player of the Week was awarded to Kemohah, marking her first this season and third of her career. Kemohah currently leads the Sooners and conference in total digs with 220 and 5.24 digs per set, while also being tied for second in total service aces for the Sooners. Last week she added 48 digs to her overall tally against Abilene Christian (17), Texas Southern (14), and Nevada (17).
Perkins locked in her first weekly honor for Rookie of the Week after an impressive performance last week. She earned her first career double-double with career-highs in kills (10) and blocks (11) against Texas Southern last Friday. Her 11 block assists against the Tigers set a program high for an individual match and ties her for first in the conference for a single match. Against the Tigers, Perkins also had an impressive offensive performance, racking up 10 kills on 13 attempts for a .769 hitting percentage. Over the season, Perkins is the top freshman in hitting percentage (.403) and fifth overall, while sitting in third with 59 total blocks and 1.44 blocks per set.
OU is the fifth Big 12 school to sweep all three awards and first since Sept. 23, 2019, where Baylor took home every honor. This also marks the seventh time in conference history that weekly conference awards were swept by a single school.
In addition, just six times has OU won multiple awards in the same week, and two of those came last season.

SOPHOMORE STUNNERS

The sophomore class for the Sooners have been called on to make an immediate impact and have done just that.
Wilson has controlled the offense for the Sooners, leading the team with 159 kills and 3.88 kills per set, marking her third and fourth best in the conference for those categories.
She also leads the team and the conference with 28 service aces and 0.68 aces per set.
A do-it-all athlete, sophomore setter Peyton Dunn ranks first on the team in assists with 242, while sophomore setter Payton Chamberlain is quickly racking up the assists with 199 over the last seven matches.
The libero of the team, Kemohah, leads the top two spots in the conference with 220 digs and digs per set (5.24), respectively.

NEW SOONERS ON THE BLOCK

Breakout stars and newcomers Perkins, Preston and Shelton have made an immediate impact on the Sooners and already making their mark on the national stage.
Freshmen Perkins (vs. Texas Southern) and Preston (vs. Ball State and Fresno State) are the only two sooners to post a double-double this season.
Nationally, both Preston and Shelton are ranked in the top 10 in kills per set for freshman in the Power Five at No. 8 and 10, respectively. Perkins is the top freshman in hitting percentage in a Power Five conference.
Preston ranks No. 9 in the conference in kills per set with 3.18 and sits in the top 10 with points per set (3.62). Perkins is also the best freshman in the Big 12 with a .403 hitting percentage, which puts her fifth in the conference overall.

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY

The Sooners defense has been solid in 2022 with some impressive outings Against FIU, the Sooners recorded a season-best 11 blocks.
OU has posted double-digit blocks in six of its last eight matches this season.
Within the Big 12, the Sooners rank second with 2.87 blocks per set and third with 219 block assists.
Perkins, a freshman, is ranked in the top three in the conference. Her 1.44 blocks per set and 59 total blocks are third in the conference.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: NO. 1 TEXAS

No. 1 Texas enters Saturday's match 9-0 after rallying to secure its first Big 12 victory on the season against Kansas, while also garnering ranked wins earlier in the season against then-No. 5 Minnesota, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 12 Stanford. In the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, all three teams are ranked in the top 10.
Head coach Jerritt Elliott enters his 22nd season with the Longhorns, holding a 592-121 head coaching record, including 542-109 as the Texas head coach.
Ranked second to powerhouse Nebraska in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, Texas has spent the entire 2022 season ranked No. 1 after earning four ranked wins on the season, including nine-time NCAA champions, No. 5 Stanford.
As a team, Texas ranks first in the league with a .318 hitting percentage, 14.13 kills per set and 13.44 assists per set.
The Longhorns offense is powered by senior Logan Eggleston, who leads the conference with 4.82 kills per set and 5.71 points per set.
Senior setter Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres has notched 327 assists and leads the Big 12 in assists per set (11.28) this season.
Defensively, Texas is led by the senior libero Zoe Fleck who has tallied 149 digs for an average of 4.66 digs per set, putting her second in the Big 12 behind Kemohah.

NEXT SERVE

The Sooners return to McCasland Field House for a pair of conference matchups, including their home conference opener against Kansas at 6 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Sept. 28, followed by West Virginia at 1 p.m. on Oct. 1.

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Sooners Open Big 12 Play with Red River Rivalry