2 Sooner VB Announcements-Crimson and Cream Scrimmage-Saturday

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OUBeliever56A
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2 Sooner VB Announcements-Crimson and Cream Scrimmage-Saturday

Post by OUBeliever56A »

There was a Sooner Volleyball announcement on July 25th that I missed. Coach Grey-Walton announced the addition of three additional players to the team. One is Graduate Senior with the other two being preferred walk-on Freshman. Here is the staff writers article about the three new players.

https://soonersports.com/news/2022/7/25 ... oster.aspx

Adria Oliver is the Grad SR transfer (6th-year player) from Cincinnati. She is 6'1" and is a Middle Blocker. She looks to have been effective during her 4-year career at Cincinnati after her freshman year at Clemson.
Beth Bayless is a preferred walk-on from Tulsa and regent Preparatory School. She is a 6'1" outside hitter and be a freshman.
Sydney Thompson is the second preferred walk-on from Tulsa and Booker T Washington HS. I remember seeing a social media post about her possibly playing for OU about a year go. She is a 5'9" Defensive Specialist/Libero.
The Sooners also release their TV - Streaming Games for the 2022 Volleyball Season. Her is the staff writers article about their televised games.

https://soonersports.com/news/2022/8/12 ... tions.aspx

A total of Sooner VB matches will be televised this season.

3 games will be on ESPNU.
All Home matches (13) including the OU Invitational Tournament (Aug 26th - 28th) will be televised on either SoonerVision on ESPN+.
Four Big 12 road games will be on ESPN+.
The Sooner VB squad squares off on Saturday, Aug 13th at 2 PM in the Crimson and Cream Scrimmage and Team Introduction to the Sooner fans.

I hope their is a good crowd tomorrow to see the Crimson and Cream scrimmage.

Boomer Sooner!
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

Here is the staff writers article about the Crimson and Cream Volleyball Scrimmage today at 2 PM at McCasland Field House.

https://soonersports.com/news/2022/8/12 ... urday.aspx
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

The staff writers article about the Crimson and Cream VB scrimmage is provided below.

https://soonersports.com/news/2022/8/13 ... ition.aspx

Here is the twitter post about the winning side, Crimson 3-2.

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Post by OUBeliever56A »

I thought the 2022 version of the Oklahoma Sooner Volleyball team that many fans came to watch on Saturday afternoon could be an improved team from 2021. The two squads, Crimson and Cream were evenly matched between the 8 players on both sides. I enjoyed the action which included a more diverse offense due to the athletic ability of the players on the floor. I will try to review the players by position.

Setter:

The two setters used in the scrimmage were #4 Peyton Dunn, 6'0", SOPH and the returning starter from 2021 and new transfer from Wyoming, #2 Payton Chamberlain, 6'0", SOPH.

I thought Dunn demonstrated an improved distribution of sets for the OU attackers as well as adding several 'push' kills for points that were effective. She played well.
I thought Chamberlain played well also. She has the ability to set the ball well to attackers both at the net and also away from the net for attackers coming forward from the back row. I thought the offense was very diverse on her side of the floor. Her quick sets to the MB and cross-net flat sets to opposite side hitters were particularly effective. I also think Chamberlain could contribute as a defensive specialist or even a OH at times.
I think there is real competition going on every day in practice for the starting setter position. Dunn is a good setter. Chamberlain showed Saturday that she is as well. From what I saw on Saturday, I think Chamberlain has the better serve of the two players which is important because the setter is on the floor on every play.

Middle Blockers:

The 4 Middle Blockers in the scrimmage were returner #1 Kelsey Carrington, 6'3" JR, #11 Adria Oliver, 6'1" Grad SR who transferred to OU from Cincinnati, returner #17 Taylor Alcorn, 6'0", JR and #21 Morgan Perkins, 6'1" FRESH.

I thought Carrington played well and got better as the match continued, especially on blocks. She was injured for a sizeable part of 2021 bit when she played she had some moments. I thought she played well on Saturday. She could be important for the blocking game. I think Carrington was the only MB that served on Saturday and did well with her opportunities.
Oliver has a couple really nice blocks and kills at the net. Her experience should help her earn playing time. She moves across the net defensively well.
Alcorn was solid as she was in 2021. She can fall under the radar at times even though she does her job.
Perkins showed that she can be affective on the middle attack with several powerful points on quick sets. Her movement at the net improved as the match continued.
I am not sure there is a player in the lead for the starting role as the MB. I think the four of them all play early in the season until the top 2 emerge. Oliver could be the leader due to experience. Carrington could be the player with the biggest up-side. Finding a player to replace Paige Anderson is critical as Anderson was very good on the blocks at the nets for the Sooners in 2021.

Outside Hitters:

There were 6 players used at the two outside hitter positions were returning starter #3 Megan Wilson, 6'4", SOPH, returning starter #9 Savannah Davison, 5'10", Grad SR, #5 Kristen Birmingham, 6'1", SOPH, #12 Alexis Shelton, 6'2", FRESH, #16 Beth Bayless, 6'1", FRESH, #23 Taylor Preston, 6'2", FRESH.

Wilson was once again the leader as the post game article stated. In an interesting twist, Wilson played much of her time on the right side instead of the left side where she camped out in 2021. I thought that was a good change as it varied the attack. I also thought she played well on the block, especially as the match got going. Wilson also served well. With more sets to the back row coming forward, I think Wilson needs to work hard on timing and striking the ball as high as she can when she is moving for the attack.
Davison is a great athlete which the fans saw last year. She could really excel on the back row attacks do to her jumping ability. That was shown several times yesterday. She also plays the back row well defensively on return of serve. I think the new offensive strategy fits Davison well. Davison is an effective server as well. She may not leave the floor due to her versatility.
Birmingham plays larger than her stats I think. She always seems to be where she is supposed to be an hits the ball hard. She had a couple good kills from the right side yesterday. I think she also had a few serves yesterday. She could be a reliable, solid contributor in 2022.
Shelton started Saturday afternoon playing very well as she probably stood out the most in the first couple of games. She is very athletic and moves well in everything she does. She played the back row well on defense and served very well also. She is a player and she has probably already shown that she can be a starter for the Sooners. I think Shelton and Davison both adjusts to the sets well in the air which is very important. Shelton can be a player that never leaves the floor.
Bayless looks to be a very steady dependable OH. She may not be flashy, but she is a solid player and does what she does well. She is a solid new freshman for the Sooners.
Preston is another very good freshman. She can play all the positions (back row and OH) and does so very well. She is probably slightly behind Shelton but not by much. Her serve also looked good. She could be the fourth 'big' player on the floor for the Sooners most of the time in 2022.
I think the Sooners will keep 4 OH on the floor a great deal of the time on 2022. Davison, Shelton and Preston can definitely play the back row which will help. Wilson will join these three in the starting roles for the Sooners I think. With the variety of sets used by the Sooners the abilities of these four players will be on display. The Sooners have more attackers in 2022 than they had in 2021.

Libero:

The two players wearing the off-color jersey on Saturday was returning starter, #10 Callie Kemohah, 5'6", SOPH and #25 Chloe Kaminski, 5'8", FRESH.

Kemohah is simply very good at everything she is asked to do. She returns very well and she bumps the ball for sets well when needed. Her serve looked good yesterday also. I think she is starting for sure. She is a very quiet leader on the floor I think.
Kaminski improved as the match progressed yesterday, I think she might have been a little nervous when the match started. But by the end she was doing a god job for her side. Her serve was good also.
Kemohah will be the '7th starter' as the Libero for the Sooners.

Defensive Specialist:

The two DS for the Sooners on Saturday was #20 Grace Talpash, 5'6", 4 YR-SR and #18 Sydney Thompson, 5'9", FRESH.

Talpash looked good in her playing time during the match. It was really the first time that I saw her play on the back row as in 2021, she was a substitute server for the most part. Her serve yesterday looked good once again.
Thompson looked very good, she took charge and played the balls well on service returns. I think she will contribute and play for the Sooners in 2022. But with four 'bigs' playing plus the setter and Kemohah, there is not much time left to play.
I think the 2022 Sooner Volleyball Team will be exciting to watch with a lot of young players spending time on the court.

The starting lineup could be:

MB - Carrington - In rotation - Oliver
OH - Wilson, Davison, Shelton and Preston - In rotation - Alcorn
Setter - Dunn or Chamberlain
Libero - Kemohah
The first match for the Sooners is next Friday @ 6 PM against Central Arkansas in Ft. Smith, AR. At this point I do not see the match on the ESPN+(SoonerVision) schedule.

Boomer Sooner!
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