OU Women's VB hosts #10 Ranked BYU on Saturday @ 2 PM- McCasland

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners Volleyball Team will host the #10 Ranked BYU Cougars today in a 2 PM first serve at McCasland Field House on Fan Appreciation Day. Admission to the match is free Saturday afternoon.

The Sooners have had a very tough schedule over the last three weekends and it continues this weekend. OU split matches with perineal powerhouse UCLA three weekends ago in McCasland winning 3 sets to 2 sets on the first match of a DH on consecutive nights before dropping the second match 1 set to 3 sets. The next weekend the Sooners hosted the #8 ranked Texas Longhorns, and dropped consecutive matches 0 sets to 3 sets. Last weekend was spent in Orlando, FL playing the UCF Knights with the Sooners dropping 2 matches by the scores of 0 sets to 3 sets and 1 set to 3 sets. While UCF is unranked, they are 5-0 in Big 12 play and are 14-2 overall this season.

In that stretch of matches OU has won 5 sets and lost 17 sets. But the point of light in the Sooners play in 9 of those lost sets, the margin of points between winning and losing was 3 points or 2 points. The Sooners are very close to breaking through to win more sets against very strong competition. A few points here and there can lead to success quickly. Coach Mansfield is looking for the right players to have on the floor during this stretch as the starting lineup has undergone a few minor tweaks it seems most every match and sometimes in different sets.

OU is currently 6-7 on the season and 0-4 in the Big 12. BYU is 2-2 in Big 12 play and 13-3 overall. BYU's two losses in conference play was to Texas where they lost two matches 1 set to 3 sets. OU has a tough assignment to defeat BYU today, but winning a couple sets in the match is not out of the question and having a chance to win the match is possible if OU plays very well today.

The defined starters for the Sooners are; Chamberlain at Setter, Kemohah at Libero, Lydia Burts and Hannah Pfiffner at MB, Alexis Shelton and Taylor Preston at OH. The remaining 'starters or rotation' players will be between, Daleigh Ellison (OH/OPP), Kelsey Carrington, (OH/OPP), Corral-Blagojevich (Server), McNees (Server), Ray (Server), Kaminski (Server) and Thompson (Server).

The keys to the match against BYU will be what the keys always are. Server well and limit the free points on serving errors, especially when the match is close. Play well on defense and handle the first touch well to allow good sets for the hitters to attack the other team. Play well on defense at the net and pick up critical block points. OU has the ability to win points on the attack when the first touch leads to a setup play.

BYU plays a mix of veterans and freshmen and they are not really any longer than the Sooner which surprises me. UCLA and Texas and on key matchups against UCF the Sooners were out-sized on the front line. Today, that size does not seem to be present by BYU.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the match today.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/10/6 ... -to-norman

Good luck to the Sooners today in their match and hope the team comes up with a big win.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Big 12 Volleyball action in Big 12 matches this week so far is below:

- UCF won over Texas Tech in Lubbock 3 sets to 0 sets.
- Texas won at home over Kansas 3 sets to 1 set.
- Kansas State won in Waco 3 sets to 2 sets over Baylor.
- Cincinnati won on the road at TCU 3 sets to 2 sets.
- Iowa State won 3 sets to 0 sets of Texas Tech in Ames.
- Baylor evened their DH with Kansas State as they won 3 sets to 1 set.
- Houston won over West Virginia 3 sets to 0 sets in Houston.

In Saturday's play:
- BYU is at Oklahoma
- West Virginia is at Houston for the second match of a DH
- Cincinnati is at TCU for the second match of a DH

The Current Big 12 Standings are:

1st Place - Texas - 6-0 in Big 12, 11-3 overall. Texas is ranked #8 in the country.
2nd Place - UCF - 5-0 in the Big 12, 14-2 overall.
3rd Place - Iowa State - 4-1 in the Big 12, 13-3 overall. I-State is ranked T-#25 in the country.
4th Place - TCU - 3-2 in the Big 12, 10-6 overall.
T-5th Place - Kansas - 3-3 in the Big 12, 12-4 overall. Kansas is ranked #17 in the country.
T-5th Place - Kansas State - 3-3 in the Big 12, 9-6 overall.
T-7th Place - BYU - 2-2 in the Big 12, 13-3 overall. BYU is ranked #10 in the country.
T-7th Place - Cincinnati - 2-2 in the Big 12, 9-5 overall.
9th Place - Baylor - 2-3 in the Big 12, 8-7 overall. Baylor is ranked #18 in the country.
10th Place - Houston - 1-3 in the Big 12, 8-5 overall. Houston is ranked #21 in the country.
11th Place - Texas Tech - 1-5 in the Big 12, 8-10 overall.
T-12th Place - Oklahoma - 0-4 in the Big 12, 6-7 overall.
T-12th Place - West Virginia - 0-4 in the Big 12, 7-10 overall.

[OUBeliever56A]

For now, I will just provide the result of the VB Match between BYU and the Sooners in today's match. BYU won the match in three straight sets, but once again the Sooners were right there knocking on the door of the Cougars for the upset against a higher ranked team. The set scores were 25-23, 25-21 and 28-26.

In the first set, the Sooners was holding serve with the score 20-21 in favor of BYU. the Sooners closed to within one point at 23-24 before a kill by BYU to win the set.

In the second set, the Sooners held the serve with the score 19-22. The Cougars scored 3 points to only 2 for the Sooners to produce the final score of 25-21.

In the third set, with the score tied at 22-all, 23-all, 24-all, 25-all and 26-25 in favor of OUand with the serve in the hands of Oklahoma. But BYU won three straight points to win 28-26.

The Sooners are right there. To lose in three sets by a total of 8 points, tells everyone that OU is right there on the brink of success this season. I am sure, that BYU is happy to be leaving OU with a win.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the match with BYU.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/10/7 ... -no-10-byu

The Sooners will play two matches this week. On Wednesday, the Sooners will host TCU at 6 PM at McCasland. On Saturday the Sooners will play at Kansas at 1 PM.

In the remaining action this week, West Virginia was defeated by Houston 3 sets to 0 sets. Cincinnati lost to TCU 3 sets to 0 sets.

The Current Big 12 Standings are:

1st Place - Texas - 6-0 in Big 12, 11-3 overall.
2nd Place - UCF - 5-0 in the Big 12, 14-2 overall.
3rd Place - Iowa State - 4-1 in the Big 12, 13-3 overall.
4th Place - TCU - 4-2 in the Big 12, 11-6 overall.
T-5th Place - Kansas - 3-3 in the Big 12, 12-4 overall.
T-5th Place - Kansas State - 3-3 in the Big 12, 9-6 overall.
7th Place - BYU - 3-2 in the Big 12, 14-3 overall.
T-8th Place - Cincinnati - 2-3 in the Big 12, 9-6 overall.
T-8th Place - Baylor - 2-3 in the Big 12, 8-7 overall.
T-8th Place - Houston - 2-3 in the Big 12, 9-5 overall.
11th Place - Texas Tech - 1-5 in the Big 12, 8-10 overall.
T-12th Place - Oklahoma - 0-5 in the Big 12, 6-8 overall.
T-12th Place - West Virginia - 0-5 in the Big 12, 7-11 over

Boomer Sooner!