by LAWRENCE, Kan. – A back-and-forth battle went the way of the Sooners as the Oklahoma volleyball team defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 3-2, in their first five-set victory on the season, Sunday afternoon.
OU sealed the deal with a 16-14 final set victory, taking the match, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 16-14. The Sooners extend their lead in the overall series with the Jayhawks, 55-42, including a 19-24 road record. Under head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton, OU has a 7-3 record against Kansas, including 4-1 in Lawrence.
Freshman Taylor Preston led the offense with a career-high 22 kills on the night. Sophomore Megan Wilson added her first double-double on the season with 16 kills and a career-high 14 digs. Her 16 kills mark her fifth-straight match in double-digit kills and seventh match of 15+ kills with 16 on the night. Freshman Alexis Shelton picked up 15 kills with her 11th match on the season with double-digit kills.
Despite being under the weather, sophomore Payton Chamberlain added a career-high 56 assists, while pacing the defense with four blocks (leading the Sooners with Shelton) and nine digs.
Defensively, the Sooners tallied 11 blocks to the Jayhawks seven, with Chamberlain and Shelton accounting for eight of them (four each). Sophomore libero Callie Kemohah (Osage) tallied 23 digs with Wilson and freshman Chloe Kaminski adding 12 apiece.
In set one, it was a back-and-forth battle with the Jayhawks as the Sooners eventually grabbed their first lead of the match, 7-6, after a kill from Wilson. OU went on a 4-1 run before a Kansas timeout to continue the momentum. The Jayhawks attempted to battle back with a 3-0 run to bring it within four-points, 16-12, before an OU timeout. Preston was able to close out the opening set for the Sooners, 25-23, to take the 1-0 advantage in the match.
The battled continued in set two as the Sooners and Jayhawks went back-and-forth up to the media timeout, 15-14. Kansas went on a 3-0 run to take a three-point lead, 19-16, forcing a Sooners timeout. OU fought its way back to a one-point deficit, 20-19, which forced a Kansas timeout. The Jayhawks closed the set with a 2-0 run to take the 25-22 win.
OU came out firing on all cylinders in the third set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead to force a Jayhawk timeout. Kansas would fight its way back to take the lead 16-14 until the Sooners took back the lead, 18-17, after a pair of Wilson kills and a kill from Oliver. The Sooners went on a 3-1 run to ultimately take the set, 25-22, and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
In set four, the Sooners came out fast with a 4-1 start before the Jayhawks chipped away at the lead, eventually taking the lead 9-6. The teams continued the back-and-forth battle with the Sooners bringing the match within one, 15-14, after the media timeout. After an OU timeout, the Jayhawks extended their lead 21-16, forcing another timeout for the Sooners. Kansas earned the 25-21 set victory to push the match to a fifth and final set.
The Jayhawks took an early 2-1 lead in the final set, but both teams continued to trade points throughout the last set with Kansas having an 8-7 edge before the media timeout. Out of the break, the Sooners went on a 4-0 run to take a 10-9 lead, forcing a Kansas timeout. The Jayhawks tied the match at 13-all to force an OU timeout. Coming down to the last two points, the Sooners went on a 2-0 run to win the final set and match, 16-14.
