Sooners Headed to Tulsa Volleyball Invitational

NORMAN – After two weekends in Nebraska, the Oklahoma volleyball team is staying in the Sooner State for a pair of matches at the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational, Sept. 12-13. OU will face Stephen F. Austin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, before facing host Tulsa on Friday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. Both matches will be played inside the Reynolds Center and Saturday's match against Tulsa will air on ESPN+.

Date: Thursday, Sept. 12
Time: 4 p.m. CT
Opponent: Stephen F. Austin
Live Stats: Statbroadcast

Date: Friday, Sept. 13
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Opponent: Tulsa
Watch: E SPN+
Live Stats: Statbroadcast

WEEKEND RECAP
At the MH Hospitality Omaha Challenge, the Sooners went 2-0 with wins over Drake and Omaha. The Sooners opened the tournament with a sweep of Drake on Sept. 6 and a 3-1 win over UNO on Sept. 7. Alexis Shelton recorded a double-double in the win over Drake with 19 kills and 12 digs. Leah LaBoy added a double-double of her own with 37 assists and 11 digs. Shelton led the team with 37 kills on the weekend to go with 2 aces, 18 digs and six blocks. Kelli Jo Burgess tied her career high with 8.0 blocks against Omaha, finishing the weekend with 12.0 total and adding five kills. Kari Geissberger notched 21 kills and five blocks. The Sooners hit .264 as a team, while holding their opponents to just .118 on the weekend.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Sooners will play their entire 2024 non-conference schedule away from the friendly confines of McCasland Field House. The Sooners are currently 3-1 on the season, following a 1-1 weekend at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln, Neb, to open the season and a 2-0 weekend at the MH Hospitality Omaha Challenge in Omaha, Neb. The non-conference slate concludes at the K-State Invitational Sept. 20-22. The two matches this weekend will be the first of the year played in the state of Oklahoma for the Sooners.

MAKING A MARK
Starting the season strong, the Sooners set multiple program records in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game on Aug. 31. Kelli Jo Burgess recorded the highest hitting percentage in a four-set match and match of any length, hitting 1.000 on 11-of-11 hitting. Jasmine Ellison recorded five aces to set the program record for service aces in a single set. Payton Chamberlain and Leah Wilton-Laboy combined for 64 assists against the Islanders to tie the record for assists in a four-set match.

STELLAR SHELTON
After missing the final two matches of the 2023 season due to injury, junior Alexis Shelton picked up where she left off recording a pair of 20-kill matches on opening weekend. In the first match of the year, Shelton recorded 21 kills and added five digs. Against Teas A&M-Corpus Christi on Aug. 31, Shelton notched 25 kills on a .500 clip and was just one dig shy of a double-double with nine. Against Drake on Sept. 6, she recorded her first double-double of the year with 19 kills and 12 digs. Shelton has now recorded nine consecutive matches with double-digit kills going back to the 2023 season. In her last 29 games, she has reached the double-digit kill mark on 25 occasions.

STATS & RANKINGS
Through two weeks, the Sooners are well represented in the SEC rankings. OU ranks second in blocks at 2.80 per set, third in assists at 13.87 per set, third in kills at 14.33 per set, fourth in hitting percentage (.273) and fifth in service aces at 1.80 per set. Individually, Alexis Shelton leads the league with 5.53 kills/set, while Lydia Martyn leads the way in blocks at 1.40 per set. Jasmine Ellison is third in service aces at .53 per set and setter Payton Chamberlain is sixth in assists per set with a mark of 10.45. Kelli Jo Burgess is ranked ninth in both hitting percentage (.356) and blocks (1.23/set).

THE OPPOSITION
SFA: The Ladyjacks enter the week 5-2 on the season after dropping their last two matches to Southeastern Louisiana and UTEP. SFA opened the year 5-0 and dropped just one set out of those five wins. Katherine Holtman leads the team offensively with 73 kills on the season, followed by Camryn Hill with 66.

Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane is 6-1 on the season, with the only loss coming to No. 23 Baylor on Aug. 30. Tulsa swept the ORU Volleyball Classic, defeating Bethune-Cookman, Sam Houston and Oral Roberts, while only dropping one set. Libero Marta Pecalli was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, averaging 5.79 digs per set and totaling 81 across the week.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Sooners non-conference slate wraps up next weekend at the K-State Invitational Sept. 20-22. OU will face UCSB on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. The weekend closes out with an ESPNU matchup against the Wildcats on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT.

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