NORMAN – The Oklahoma volleyball team completed its non-conference schedule with a pair of sweeps Friday, defeating both Texas Southern and Nevada, 3-0 each.
The Sooners are 10-2, marking their best non-conference record since 2013, along with the Gray-Walton era.
Freshman Morgan Perkins earned her first career double-double with career-highs in kills (10) and blocks (11) against Texas Southern. Her block total against the Tigers is tied for first in the conference. Perkins also tallied 16 kills and 14 blocks on the day, while sitting in the top-three in the conference in blocks per set (1.44), including first in blocks assists (56) and second in total blocks (59).
"Well, it's easy to get kills on the fence," head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton said. "Morgan has the ability athletically to just take over for three rotations. We challenged Morgan to be the kills leader and she was neck and neck with Megan (Wilson) there. … As a middle blocker and freshman hitting .700 on the year, she's not having a bad day out there, but there's things you can get better at."
Sophomore Megan Wilson led the day with 20 kills, while freshman Taylor Preston followed with 19 kills. Both underclassmen posted their career-best hitting percentage during the Texas Southern match with Wilson earning a .500 clip and Preston with an impressive .778 hitting percentage.
The Sooners open conference play in Austin, Texas, against the top-ranked Longhorns next Saturday, Sept. 24, before returning to McCasland for their home conference opener against No. 20 Kansas at 6 p.m. CT, Sept. 28.
"As a team, we have the ability to go in there and cause some issues for Texas and get a win," Gray-Walton noted. "If we believe that, we will play like that, we will sound like that, and that's just something we've been preaching to this group in everything that they do this year, and they have a lot of conviction (about) what they're doing."
OKLAHOMA 3, TEXAS SOUTHERN 0
The Sooners swept the first match of the day against the Tigers in three-sets, 25-20, 25-11, 25-9. OU continues its undefeated sweep against Texas Southern, leading the overall series 3-0.
Perkins posted her first career double-double with career-highs in kills (10) and blocks (11). Her block total against the Tigers is tied for first in the conference, while also having an impressive offensive performance with a .769 hitting percentage.
Alongside Perkins, Wilson also tallied 10 kills with a career-high .500 hitting percentage. Graduate student Savannah Davison posted nine kills, while also matching a career-high five blocks. Preston had an impressive offensive performance with seven kills on nine total attempts, earning a career-high .778 hitting percentage.
In the first set, OU led 8-5 to start off the set. At the first timeout, the Sooners led 15-13, with Perkins leading the Sooners with four kills. An ace by Megan Wilson extended the Sooners lead to 20-17, leading to a timeout from Texas Southern. The Sooners clinch the set 25-20 with a kill by Preston. Wilson
and Perkins both led the Sooners with four kills in the opening set. Perkins also had a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage, going four kills out of four total attempts.
OU was off to a hot start in the second set after a 5-0 run forced a Texas Southern timeout. The Sooners extended their lead to 10-5 with Wilson leading in kills (eight). The Tigers forced a time out as the Sooners extend the lead to 13-6. The Sooners closed the set with a 25-11 victory. Wilson led in kills with six, while the defense was led by sophomore Callie Kemohah and sophomore Payton Chamberlain with five and four digs, respectively.
The Sooners began the third and final set with a 6-1 lead and a pair of double blocks by Perkins and Davison. Texas Southern forced a timeout with the Sooners leading by 10 (15-5). Davison closed the last set with back-to-back blocks, clinching the Sooners victory, after an impressive 25-9 in the final set.
OKLAHOMA 3, NEVADA 0
Three players finished in double digit kills as the Sooners swept Nevada, 25-13, 25-19, 25-18, in the first matchup of the overall series.
Preston led all players 12 kills on a .333 clip, while Shelton added 11 kills and career-high five digs. Wilson also added 10 kills, while Chamberlain had 31 assists.
The Sooner shared the wealth defensively with four each adding three blocks apiece – Wilson, Perkins, Chamberlain and junior Kelsey Carrington. Kemohah contributed with 17 digs and six assists.
OU jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening set, going into the first timeout, with Preston's back-to-back kills and Wilson scoring three of the Sooners' first four points with a pair of kills and a block. Freshman Sydney Thompson added a service ace to extend OU's lead, 12-4, while Preston went back-to-back in kills as OU jumped ahead 16-8. Just as the first set began with a Wilson kill, it ended with another kill from the opposite and outside hitter to grant the Sooners the set win, 25-13.
The Sooners latched on to the lead early in the second set, taking advantage of errors from Texas Southern. A kill from Shelton increased their lead to 13-7, forcing a Wolfpack timeout. Service errors from Wilson and Preston allowed Nevada within a three-point reach from the Sooners (18-13). Kills from Shelton and Chamberlain increased OU's lead 21-15, forcing Nevada's final timeout. Preston drilled her fifth kill of the second set to clinch the 25-19 victory for OU. Preston led the offense with five kills, while Kemohah led defensively with six digs.
The third and final set saw the Sooners trail for the first time during the contest as OU trailed 3-2 to Nevada to start off. Shelton notched back-to-back kills to take the lead, 6-4. Three attack errors out of four plays from the Wolfpack allowed OU to increase its lead to 10-7. In a close battle, Wilson posted a kill and service to give the Sooners a slight lead, 15-12, before a media timeout. Kills from Shelton and Preston increased the lead by five (18-13), before a Nevada timeout. Wilson's tenth kill of the night sealed the 3-0 sweep for the Sooners, who won the final set 25-18.
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