by CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Oklahoma volleyball team took down Cincinnati in five, 25-20, 25-23, 20-25,13-25, 15-5, Saturday night inside Fifth Third Arena.
Ireland McNees recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs, both career highs. Lydia Burts led the offense with 17 kills on 31 attempts for a .484 hitting percentage. Burts stuffed the stat sheet with five digs and six blocks. Taylor Preston recorded 12 kills and Daleigh Ellison chipped in nine.
Payton Chamberlain paced the offense with 53 assists, while also adding nine digs and three blocks.
Callie Kemohah notched 21 digs on the night, followed by 14 from Sydney Thompson and 12 from Mele Corral-Blagojevich.
At the first timeout of the first set the Sooners led Cincinnati, 13-8. Out of the timeout, the Bearcats used a 5-1 run to pull within one of the Sooners. OU capitalized on errors by the Bearcats to push the lead to 20-16. The Bearcats made it close at 21-20, but OU used a 4-0 run to secure the set, 25-20.
The Sooners took an early 7-3 lead in the second, forcing a Cincinnati timeout. Cincinnati tied the match at 8-all before taking a 9-8 lead. A kill from Ellison put the Sooners back in front, 11-10, and the Sooners held the lead until Cincinnati tied the match at 18-18. McNees recorded her 10th kill of the match to give OU a 24-23 lead before Chamberlain and Burts sealed the set with a block.
The third set was tied 4-4 early but a 5-0 run by the Sooners forced a Cincinnati timeout. The Bearcats responded by closing the gap to 9-8 before the Sooners pushed their lead to 12-10. Cincinnati took the lead at 14-13 and never relinquished it to take the set 25-20.
Burts led the Sooners on a 3-0 run to open the fourth with a kill and back-to-back service aces. Cincinnati jumped out to a 15-10 lead at the first media timeout and went on to win the set 25-13.
The Sooners took a quick 7-1 lead in the final set and led 8-2 at the switch. OU finished the set on a 5-0 run and a kill from Chamberlain sealed the victory for the Sooners with a 15-5 fifth set final.
