OU volleyball returns to the court Thursday

Sooners host Texas twice this week as Big 12 teams have elected to play only conference games in 2020

Oklahoma opens the 2020 volleyball season on Thursday with a pair of home matches against rival Texas.

The Sooners and Longhorns face off at 6:30 p.m., then play again on Friday at 6 p.m. Both games are set for McCasland Field House on the OU campus and will air on ESPNU.

OU comes in to the 2020 season after making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2014. The 2019 Sooners went 19-9 to earn third place in the Big 12 for the second consecutive season.

The Big 12 Conference will play conference only games this year. Each team will play four home series and four road series for a total of 16 matches.

The Sooners host Texas, Kansas (Oct. 16-17), TCU (Nov. 5-6) and West Virginia (Nov. 19-20) and will travel to Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas Tech.

The 2020 NCAA Volleyball Tournament has been scheduled for the spring 2021 semester. The Big 12 Champion will automatically qualify to the spring championship.

The Sooners return 12 players from last season, including Big 12 Libero of the Year Keyton Kinley. Three of OU’s returners earned All-Big 12 accolades in 2019 as Kinley and Sarah Sanders earned first team honors, with Paige Anderson earning second team recognition.

OU has an open date before returning to action Oct. 8-9 against Baylor in Waco, TX.

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