Sooner VB travels to Iowa State for 2 matches on Sat and Sun
Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 9:11 am
The Oklahoma Sooner Volleyball Team travels to Ames, IA to play Iowa State on Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at Noon. The Sooners are trying to climb their way out of the bottom third of the Big 12 VB Standings. A win in the two matches against I-State can send them on a path to do just that. Here is the Sooner staff wrtiers article about the Iowa State road trip for the Sooners.
https://soonersports.com/news/2023/10/2 ... of-matches
Both matches will be on ESPN this weekend. The Saturday match will be on ESPN+ with the Sunday match being on ESPN. I see a Houston-Cincinnati VB match on ESPNU at Noon on Sunday. Maybe the Sunday game has been changed on the network and the OU vs I-State match will be on ESPN+ also.
It will be interesting to see who starts on Saturday against a bigger I-State front line. Lately the Sooners have been playing Shelton, Preston, Burts, Pfiffner and Carrington on the front row for more size. But that has forced out on the right side and she is not as effective as a right side hitter as she is at the MB position. In the last three sets against a small Tulsa squad, Daleigh Ellison played the right side hitter with Burts and Carrington in the MB and the Sooners won 3 straight sets to win the match. A part of the strategy that led to that 3-set reverse sweep was the playing of Chloe Kaminski instead of Ireland McNees on the back row as well. Kaminski improves the back row defense and first touches for OU while McNees probably has a more dynamic serve. The Sooners will also get Payton Chamberlain back to be the setter as she sat out the Tulsa match to let her ailing knee rest before a weekend DH. I also think that Alexis Shelton in not 100% right now due to a right hand injury or soreness.
Sooner defense will have to keep the Sooners in the match against Iowa State. That will require a strong presence at the net with effective blocks and strong play on the reception of the ball on first touches and DIGs. the other part of the Sooners that will need to be strong is the serving game. The keys to me are Mele Corral-Blagojevich, Payton Chamberlain and Sydney Thompson and how they serve. If they serve well and cause first touch problems for I-State and minimize the service errors, the Sooners will benefit positively. Callie Kemohah, either Kaminski or McNees and then a front line player will have to serve well also, with Kemohah being one the most consistent servers for OU.
Iowa State has been on a downward slide as of late. After winning 6 or 7 matches to reach a 13-3 record, the Cyclones have dropped 3 straight matches. OU is on a reverse trend. After losing 8 straight matches, Oklahoma has gone 2 and 1 in their last three matches.
Good luck to the Sooners this weekend against Iowa State.
Boomer Sooner!
https://soonersports.com/news/2023/10/2 ... of-matches
Both matches will be on ESPN this weekend. The Saturday match will be on ESPN+ with the Sunday match being on ESPN. I see a Houston-Cincinnati VB match on ESPNU at Noon on Sunday. Maybe the Sunday game has been changed on the network and the OU vs I-State match will be on ESPN+ also.
It will be interesting to see who starts on Saturday against a bigger I-State front line. Lately the Sooners have been playing Shelton, Preston, Burts, Pfiffner and Carrington on the front row for more size. But that has forced out on the right side and she is not as effective as a right side hitter as she is at the MB position. In the last three sets against a small Tulsa squad, Daleigh Ellison played the right side hitter with Burts and Carrington in the MB and the Sooners won 3 straight sets to win the match. A part of the strategy that led to that 3-set reverse sweep was the playing of Chloe Kaminski instead of Ireland McNees on the back row as well. Kaminski improves the back row defense and first touches for OU while McNees probably has a more dynamic serve. The Sooners will also get Payton Chamberlain back to be the setter as she sat out the Tulsa match to let her ailing knee rest before a weekend DH. I also think that Alexis Shelton in not 100% right now due to a right hand injury or soreness.
Sooner defense will have to keep the Sooners in the match against Iowa State. That will require a strong presence at the net with effective blocks and strong play on the reception of the ball on first touches and DIGs. the other part of the Sooners that will need to be strong is the serving game. The keys to me are Mele Corral-Blagojevich, Payton Chamberlain and Sydney Thompson and how they serve. If they serve well and cause first touch problems for I-State and minimize the service errors, the Sooners will benefit positively. Callie Kemohah, either Kaminski or McNees and then a front line player will have to serve well also, with Kemohah being one the most consistent servers for OU.
Iowa State has been on a downward slide as of late. After winning 6 or 7 matches to reach a 13-3 record, the Cyclones have dropped 3 straight matches. OU is on a reverse trend. After losing 8 straight matches, Oklahoma has gone 2 and 1 in their last three matches.
Good luck to the Sooners this weekend against Iowa State.
Boomer Sooner!