Preston Powers Sooners to Four-Set Victory

Saturday, September 2

Corvallis, Ore.

1 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

4-1,0-0Big 12

Boise State

2-1,0-0Mountain West

Boise St.

Oklahoma

Preston Powers Sooners to Four-Set Victory

September 02, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score Stats

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Taylor Preston tied her career-high 23 kills, including the winning point of the match, to lead the Oklahoma volleyball team to a 3-1 (29-27, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21) victory over Boise State Saturday morning.

Preston powered an impressive offense that saw four Sooners record double-digit kills. Lydia Burts and Alexis Shelton each tallied 14, while Daleigh Ellison chipped in 11. Hannah Pfiffner added eight kills on a .500 percentage, while Burts hit at a .435 clip.

Payton Chamberlain dished out a season-best 49 assists and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Callie Kemohah added 16 digs of her own and Sydney Thompson tallied 11.

As a team, the Sooners out-killed Boise State at a 73-44 mark, while also hitting .363 to the Broncos .256. OU recorded 64 assists and 57 digs, while Boise State notched 39 assists and 40 digs.

The first set saw 19 ties and five lead changes as the Sooners battled to a 29-27 victory. The teams traded points to a 7-7 deadlock before Boise State pulled ahead, 10-7. A solo block by Burts brought the Sooners within one and a kill from Preston tied the set at 10-all. OU would capitalize on back-to-back Boise State errors to move in front 12-10.

After trading points up to 17-all, Boise State pulled ahead 19-17 to force an OU timeout. Out of the timeout, Burts and Preston tallied back-to-back kills to pull OU even. Burts' fifth kill of the day would put the Sooners in front, 20-19. It would take five set points to finish the first frame, but a Boise State error would give OU the 1-0 advantage in the match.

Once again, the teams started the second set by trading points with four ties and three lead changes in the first 11 points. Boise State took the early 8-5 lead, but a kill from Shelton brought OU within one at 9-8. OU would use a 4-0 scoring run to take a 13-11 lead and Boise State would respond with a 3-0 run of their own to take the lead back at 14-13. Hannah Pfiffner would tie the match at 16-all with her second kill of the day. Continuing to trade points, Preston gave the Sooners their first lead since 15-14 at 23-22. Closing out a 5-0 run, Preston's 14th kill gave OU the 25-22 win.

In the third frame, OU jumped out to a 7-5 lead off a block from Daleigh Ellison and Burts. Boise State would use a 3-0 run to take a 9-8 lead. Back-to-back kills from Ellison put the Sooners in front 15-14. OU held their slight advantage through a 20-19 lead, but Boise State would use a 3-0 run to move in front 21-20 and would not relinquish their lead, taking the third set 25-21.

Boise State took the early advantage in the fourth set, 8-6. Down four, the Sooners put together a run to pull within one at 13-12. Shelton gave OU the 16-15 lead with a solo block. A 6-0 run by the Sooners extended their lead to 19-15 as Burts recorded her 13th kill. OU pushed their lead to 21-16, but the Broncos closed the gap at 22-20. Preston recorded the final two points of the match, giving OU the 25-21 victory.

The Sooners will head to South Bend, Ind. for the Irish Invitational, Sept. 8-9, to wrap up their road non-conference slate. OU will face Illinois on Friday, Sept. 8, at 5 p.m. and host Notre Dame on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m.