OU Volleyball 2023: New Coach, XFERs Out, XFERs In - New Start!

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After the 2022 season for the Oklahoma Sooner Volleyball Squad things seemed to be looking up. The Sooners got back on the winning side of the ledger with a 15-13 with winning records at home and on the road. The conference record of 5-11 did show that there was still work to be done, but things seemed to be looking up with a star in Megan Wilson and three very strong freshman front line players that proved they could play at a high level in 2022.

Then Coach Lindsay Grey-Walton was released. Then Megan Wilson, Peyton Dunn and Morgan Perkins announced that they were transferring. Dunn, a freshman starter at Setter in 2021, did not play in 2022 after an early season injury and lost her job to Peyton Chamberlain as the Setter. Wilson, who was All Big 12 and Made the 2022 AVCA Southwest All-Region Team, is a very big loss for the Sooners as she had two seasons left. Perkins had also set herself apart as a Freshman MB as a second All Big 12 performer. The losses of Wilson and Perkins will be hard to replace for the Sooners.

In addition to the three transfers leaving the Sooners, 3 players graduated. The players were the athletic OH Savannah Davison, the MB transfer Adria Oliver and the Serving Specialist Grace Talpash.

In addition to that, the Preferred Walk-On Beth Bayless from the Tulsa area, went back to Tulsa University to play in her sophomore season. Taylor Alcorn, the 3rd year player who did not play in 2022 due to injury either has stopped playing collegiately or I have missed her transferring to play.

The new Sooner Volleyball Coach had to hit the ground running very quickly. New Coach Aaron Mansfield, who had been the coach at Loyola Marymount University since 2017 with a 94-68 record, went to work to build his staff and to rebuild the roster.

Down 8 players from the 16-player roster in 2022, Coach Mansfield hired a new staff of three assistants.
• Brian Thornton, Assistant Coach – Thornton was the Assistant Coach with Mansfield at LMU. Thornton served as the U.S. Men's National Team's assistant coach through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Thornton was a 2-time All American at UC-Irvine and a member of a championship team in 2007.
• Regan Scott, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator – Scott joins the Oklahoma staff from Dartmouth in 2022. Scott has an extensive pro career and international experience. She played volleyball at LSU and was All-SEC all four years at LSU.
• Meredith Teague, Technical Coordinator/Assistant Recruiter – Teague follows Mansfield from LMU as a staff member in several roles and a player at LMU coached by Mansfield.

As a coaching staff, they have added 7 players to the Sooner roster. The additions include 3 transfers and 4 new freshmen.

Transfers:
• Lydia Burts – (Liberty) - Burts, a 6’3” MB played two seasons at Liberty and made an ASUN All Conference team both seasons. She arrives at OU with 2 seasons of eligibility remaining. Burts tallied 568 kills, 205.5 blocks (259 block assists, 37 block solos), 94 digs, 30 aces and 13 assists during her Lady Flames career. Burts is from South Carolina.
• Daleigh Ellison – (Texas State) – Ellison, a 5’11” OH as played 2 seasons at Texas State and has 2 years of eligibility remaining. Ellison appeared in 38 sets over 26 matches played, tallying 32 kills, 13 digs and 10 block assists during her Bobcats career. Ellison is from Texas.
• Rylee Fay – (New Mexico State) – Fay, 5’9” Setter, has played one season at Missouri State and one season at New Mexico State. Fay looks to be a setter and a serving specialist during her first two seasons. She will have two seasons of eligibility remaining as she arrives at Oklahoma. She is from Iowa.

Freshman:
• Mele Corral-Blagojevich – (Redondo Beach, California) – Corral-Blagojevich, a 6’1” OH, is a standout player since her freshman season. She has made numerous All-American teams and an outstanding high school career and is the #27 recruit in the country. Corral-Blagojevich is a close friend with a 2023 softball freshman, Ella Parker. Corral-Blagojevich should make an immediate impact at OU as a freshman.
• Hannah Pfiffner – (Frisco, TX) – Pfiffner, a 6’1” MB, is the #77 recruit in the country and has speed and precision and works hard as a MB. Pfiffner could also make an impact as a MB as a freshman at OU.
• Ireland McNees – (Riverton, Utah) - McNees, a 5’9” OH, is a three-time All-State player in Utah. I believe that McNees was committed to LMU and has decided to follow Coach Mansfield to OU as a freshman. From her ‘bio’ it looks like she could be a setter also. She is an undersized OH at 5’9” which should indicate that she should be a good jumper at the net.
• Emma Henry – (Norman, OK) – Henry, a 5’8” Setter, is a 4-year player and a captain at Norman High School. Both of her parents have ties with Oklahoma in their current job positions. Both parents played basketball at New Mexico. Henry is the career leader in assists (2,179) and digs (1,326) for Norman HS and amassed over 882 kills, 185 blocks and 312 service aces during high school career.

Coach Mansfield and his staff have done a decent job rebuilding the Sooner roster after not being able to even scrimmage in the spring of 2023 due to only having 9 players on the team working out in the off season. From an interview I heard on KREF, according to Coach Mansfield, the team is itching to be able to scrimmage in August when they start the pre-season camp for 2023. Practice starts on August 8th.

Coach Mansfield that there will be lots of changes for 2023 in the style of play as well. But the changes were not defined during the interview. During the spring, without being able to scrimmage, the team worked on an awful lot of technique and recognition of things with each player individually. Coach Mansfield said during the interview that he thought that most of the players made significant breakthrough changes in their play and the way they approach the game.

The Sooners do have significant players that are returning.
• Callie Kemohah – 5’6” Libero – Kemohah is a returning Junior and has been one of the most valuable players due to her consistency and her play as the Libero which keeps her on the floor almost every point of the matches. She is a top-notched player picking a many tough digs and service returns as well as having a strong service game and can set the ball with a bump anytime it is required.
• Payton Chamberlain – 6’0” Setter –Chamberlain, a transfer from Wyoming after her freshman season before the 2022 season got a chance to play and start when Payton Dunn went down to an ankle injury. Chamberlain’s play as the setter opened new avenues to attack on offense with very nice back sets to the back line players and quick sets in the middle and across the net.
• Alexis Shelton and Taylor Preston – 6’2” Ohs – Shelton and Preston were immediate Freshmen starters with their roles growing as the season progressed. Both added back row skills during matches during the season as well as serving duties. They are strong OH hitters and blockers at the net. Both have big-time athletic ability and can jump well. With the departure of Wilson and Perkins, they will be expected to do more as sophomores in 2023. I expect them to be successful in doing so. Both could become the ‘faces’ of the Sooner Volleyball Program as Sophomores.
• Chloe Kaminski – 5’8” Server/Defensive Specialist – Kaminski started from the first match of her freshmen season in 2022. She was a reliable server and backrow substitute for the Sooners all season. She should improve on her play in her sophomore season and continue to develop for the Sooners.
• Kelsey Carrington – 6’3” MB – Carrington has played in each of her 3 seasons at OU as a reserve seeing action in about 30 sets each season. Due to her Covid year, she has 2 seasons left to play at OU. With both starting MB gone for 2023, Carrington has a real chance to be a starter for the first time. When she has played, she has usually done a good job. The key to her improving may be her blocking ability at the net. If she can become a presence on the net with blocks, she will solidify her starting role for the first time.
• Kristen Birmingham – 6’1” OH/OPP – Birmingham played in over 70 sets as a freshman in 2021. But with the arrival of Shelton and Preston, her playing time was reduced for 2022. As a freshman she played as a combo OH/MB/OPP. There is at least one OH/OPP/MB position available for the 2023 season. Birmingham jumps well and can be a strong force on the net. Birmingham has 2 years of eligibility left.
• Sydney Thompson – 5’9” Defensive Specialist/Libero – Thompson was a preferred walk-on as a freshman in 2022. She played in 35 sets in her initial season for the Sooners. She did show that she has defensive talent and is aggressive in her play. She probably needs to work on her serve a bit if she wants to increase her playing time in 2023. She has the ‘look’ of a player.

Good luck to the Sooner Volleyball Team in 2023. They have a lot of newness about them as they must become a new team quickly and gel as the season starts very quickly as school begins. With the Big 12 expansion for play in 2023, OU is one of 13 teams in the Big 12 as Cincinnati, UCF, BYU and Houston join the Big 12. (OSU does not have a VB team.) The Big 12 schedule is a bit different for 2023 as the Sooners play 6 single 5-set Matches and 6 DH 5-set Matches over two days during Big 12 Play replacing the home-road schedule of previous years. The result is 18 Big 12 matches.

The Sooners will open their Big 12 Schedule on September 22nd and 23rd against the defending National Champions, the Texas Longhorns in McCasland Field House in 6 pm first serve matches. The new-look Sooners might as well jump directly into the fire to open big 12 play and get Texas out of the way. An upset of one of the two matches would be a great start for the Sooners!

Boomer Sooner!