by NORMAN – Behind 28 kills from Taylor Preston and a strong defensive effort the Oklahoma volleyball team pulled the reverse sweep of Tulsa with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night inside McCasland Field House. The Sooners took the match 21-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-12.
Preston’s 28 kills led all players in the match as the sophomore reached the 20-kill mark for the third time this season. Joining Preston with 20 kills on the night was Alexis Shelton who tallied 21 kills, her fifth 20-plus kill performance of the year. Lydia Burts chipped in 13 kills on a .370 clip, while Kelsey Carrington added 7 at a .386 mark.
Defensively, the Sooners recorded 87 digs, led by a season-high 27 from Callie Kemohah. Kemohah tallied her first double-double of the season, adding 12 assists on the night. Mele Corral-Blagojevich and Sydney Thompson each notched a career-high in digs with 16 and 12, respectively. Twelve of 13 Sooners recorded at least one dig in the match with six adding at least five.
“I think we’re kind of thinking less and doing more back there,” head coach Aaron Mansfield said. “Defense is a very reactive skill and sometimes when you overthink and overanalyze other team’s offenses, you feel a little paralyzed. I just saw our team playing really free in the back row. They weren’t worried about being in the right spot, they were just reading and reacting and playing the game.”
Emma Henry had a big night for the Sooners, tallying a career best 40 assists and nearly achieving a double-double with seven digs on the day. Rylee Fay chipped in 18 assists to go with five digs.
The Sooners dropped the first two sets 25-21 and 25-19, but battled back in the third to keep the match alive. OU won the third set convincingly, 25-15, behind a balanced offensive attack and a defense that notched 4.0 blocks and 20 digs.
In the fourth set, the Sooners and Golden Hurricane traded points early before OU pulled ahead 16-13 on back-to-back Tulsa errors. OU extended its lead to 20-15 off a kill from Shelton and closed out the set with back-to-back kills from Burts and Preston to take the set, 25-20.
OU controlled the final set, racing out to an 8-4 lead at the switch. Tulsa pulled within two at 12-10 but Preston and Shelton came up with the final three kills to give the Sooners the 15-12 victory and the match.
