Sooners Host Tulsa for Final Non-Conference Match

NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team will wrap up non-conference play with a Tuesday evening match against in-state for Tulsa on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. inside McCasland Field House. The Sooners are 6-3 in non-conference play in 2023. The match will air on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Kelly Files on the call.

Tuesday's match will also be the Pink Game in honor of breast cancer awareness. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and the first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free pink t-shirt.

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

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooner split a pair of matches over the weekend with K-State, taking the first game in five sets and falling in the second match in three.

Down 2-0 in the first match, the Sooners pulled off the reverse sweep of the Wildcats, 15-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 16-14, to pick up their first conference victory of the season.

In the final set with K-State at match-point, Mansfield challenged a net-violation by the Wildcats and won to extend the match and keep OU alive. Thompson served up an ace to tie the match at 14-all and Preston brought it home with back-to-back kills.

Preston recorded 20 kills on the night, including the final four of the game for OU. Alexis Shelton added 19 and Lydia Burts tallied nine.

Payton Chamberlain recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 40 assists and 12 digs to go along with three service aces and two blocks. Callie Kemohah chipped in 20 digs to tie her season high and was just shy of a double-double with nine assists.

Defensively, the Sooners recorded 14.5 blocks, with Hannah Pfiffner matching a career-high 8.0. Burts and Shelton each added five blocks.

In game two, Shelton recorded 14 kills on a .462 clip to lead the Sooners. Preston added nine and Burts chipped in seven. Kelsey Carrington added six with no errors to hit .545 for the night.

Chamberlain picked up 31 assists and needs just 32 more to hit 2,000 in her career. Defensively, the Sooners recorded 6.5 blocks with Shelton leading the way with three. Kemohah notched seven digs and Chamberlain added five.

HOME SWEET HOME
With 18 matches played in 2023, the Sooners have only played eight at home. The BYU match on October 7 started a span where OU will play five of six matches inside the friendly confines of McCasland Field House. After Tuesday night's game, the Sooners will have just three more home matches while having six on the road.

YOUNG AND HUNGRY
The underclassmen on the 2023 team have been called on to make an impact this season and have done just that. Of the five Sooners who have played in every set this year, three are underclassmen in sophomores Alexis Shelton and Taylor Preston and freshman Mele Corral-Blagojevich.

Shelton and Preston have controlled the offense for the Sooners in 2023, ranking first and second, respectively, in kills per set and total kills. Shelton also ranks fourth in total digs while Preston ranks fourth in total blocks. Corral-Blagojevich leads the team with 20 service aces and is third with 100 digs.

Freshman Hannah Pfiffner has also appeared in all but one match, recording 101 kills and 41 total blocks. Sophomore Syndey Thompson has made an appearance in 57 sets and has recorded 62 digs and 16 service aces.

BLOCKING BURTS
Lydia Burts has made a huge impact on the Sooners defense, leading the team with 77.0 total blocks on the season, 33 more than the next closest player. Burts has recorded at least five blocks in eight matches this season, including a season-best 9.0 in the season opener.

Burts has recorded six digs or more in five matches, including 7.0 against BYU. Burts has 13 solo blocks on the season with a season high four against UCF.

WE DIG IT
Junior libero Callie Kemohah reached a major milestone on Sept. 15 against UCLA. Kemohah notched 1,000 digs and now sits at 1,129 digs in her career. Kemohah now ranks 11^th all-time in OU history and could find herself in the top five by the end of the season. The junior needs just 19 to break into the top 10 and 179 to make the top five.

PC2K
The countdown to 2,000 assists is on for junior setter Payton Chamberlain. Chamberlain has record 1,968 assists in her career with 1,487 of those coming while at OU. Chamberlain is averaging 10.48 assists per set and with 10 matches left should easily achieve the feat. She currently ranks 10^th all-time in assists.

QUICK HITTERS

The Sooners will face all four new conference opponents in 2023. OU will play a two-game series at UCF and Cincinnati, host Houston at home for two and face BYU at home once.
The Sooners play just three non-conference games at home in 2023. OU will host UCLA for a pair of matches in mid-September and Tulsa in late October.
Eight of OU's regular season opponents earned berths to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, including Texas, Ball State, Houston, UCF, Iowa State, BYU, TCU and Baylor. Texas was crowned the national champion, while Houston and Baylor made it to the regional semifinals

THE OPPOSITION
Tulsa is 11-11 overall and 4-7 against American Athletic Conference opponents. The Golden Hurricane enters Tuesday's match on a four-match losing streak with losses to SMU and Wichita State. The Golden Hurricane have wins over two Power 5 opponents in Michigan State and Ole Miss.

Kayley Cassaday leads the Hurricane with 408 kills on the season and a 5.10 kills/set mark. Avery Kalsy has notched 775 assists to help pace the offense. On the defensive side, Arianna Mongare leads the team with 76.0 total blocks, including nine solo blocks. Marta Pecalli has recorded 329 digs to lead the team.

FOLLOW THE SOONERS
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Volleyball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Volleyball) and like Oklahoma Volleyball on Facebook.

UP NEXT
The Sooners will hit the road for a 15-day span, starting with a trip to Ames, Iowa. OU and Iowa State will play a pair of matches at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 28 and Sunday, Oct. 29. Sunday's match will air on ESPN at noon CT.

Sooners Host Tulsa for Final Non-Conference Match

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Players Mentioned

Kelsey Carrington

Payton Chamberlain

Mele Corral-Blagojevich

Callie Kemohah

Lydia Martyn

Hannah Pfiffner

Taylor Preston

Alexis Shelton

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University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Host Tulsa for Final Non-Conference Match

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Carrington

Payton Chamberlain

Mele Corral-Blagojevich

Callie Kemohah

Lydia Martyn

Hannah Pfiffner

Taylor Preston

Alexis Shelton

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