OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City volleyball team opens Sooner Athletic Conference play this weekend on the road against new SAC member College of the Ozarks and John Brown.

Friday, September 6
7 p.m. – Oklahoma City (0-6, 0-0 SAC) at College of the Ozarks (4-1, 0-0 SAC)
Location: Point Lookout, Mo. | Keeter Gymnasium

Saturday, September 7
1 p.m. – Oklahoma City (0-6, 0-0 SAC) at John Brown (1-7, 0-0 SAC)
Location: Siloam Springs, Ark. | Bill George Arena

STARS OUTLOOK
Oklahoma City will be looking for its first of the 2024 season this upcoming weekend as the Stars begin conference play on Friday. The Stars opened their season in the Bulldog Bash facing two of three top 25 teams without its top player Ruby Kelley. Despite going without a win, Oklahoma City battled in each set and even had a chance to knot things up in the second set against Hastings having a set point chance before the Broncos came storming back to win 27-25. OCU dropped its next two matches to #17 College of Saint Mary and #4 Concordia but saw a plethora of youth get an opportunity to showcase their skills with four freshman getting court time including transfer Maddie Edwards. 

Following the Bulldog Bash, Oklahoma City picked up play in the Volleyesta Tournament in San Antonio where they went 0-3 dropping all three matches in four sets which included taking on #3 Eastern Oregon. Oklahoma City has begun 0-6 for teh first time in the NAIA Era (2006-present).

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sophomore setter Natalie Adams did not miss a beat in the opening weekend having 13 assists in match one followed by 31 and 24 in the next two. In the Volleyesta Tournament, Adams posted a game-high 30 assists against #3 Eastern Oregon and comes in fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference with 120 total assists. 

Two-time all-SAC member and NAIA all-American Rylee Steward is another Star to watch out for as Steward enters conference play averaging 2.24 K/S while leading the team with 15.0 total blocks. Steward set her season-high with five blocks in the Volleyesta Tournament against Our Lady of the Lake. 

Freshman Grace Smallwood has done nothing but impress through her first six collegiate games as Smallwood has already tabbed two double-doubles this year where she went for 14 kills and 12 digs against College of Saint Mary while having 14 kills and 17 digs against Eastern Oregon. The freshman currently leads OCU with 52 kills and sits five digs back of Joeci Hunt for the team-lead in that category.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS...
College of the Ozarks will participate in its first Sooner Athletic Conference matchup since joining the league officially this summer. The Bobcats come in with a 4-1 record having suffered its only loss to Evangel University in three sets. All four matches have been decided in three sets that College of the Ozarks has played in with wins over Avila, Stephens College, Sterling and Misson University. Bri Linehan leads the Bobcats with 56 kills and currently holds a four-game streak of having double-digit kills. Kamryn Link has tallied double-digit assists in all five games this season including coming off her best game of 34 assists against Mission University. 

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES...
After winning the season-opener against Grand View in five sets John Brown has plummeted to seven straight losses and have been swept in back-to-back matches. JBU will open conference play on Friday night against Southwestern Christian before hosting OCU on Saturday. Senior Savanna Riney leads the Golden Eagles with 75 kills while Taylor Golmen has added 61 of her own including the team's season-best of 17 kills in the opener against Grand View. Kailana Chamnongchith, a sophomore leads the team with 115 assists while having six games with double-digit assists and her best of 24 against Kansas Wesleyan.

SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma City and College of the Ozarks will matchup for the first time since 2012 as the Bobcats hold a 4-2 series lead over Oklahoma City since 2009.

No stranger to one another, this will be the 45th all-time meeting between John Brown and Oklahoma City as the Stars hold a 31-13 advantage over the Golden Eagles dating back to 2006.

FOLLOW THE STARS
Find all news, scores, highlights and updates on ocusports.com, Twitter (@ocustars), Instagram (@ocustars), Facebook (Oklahoma City University Stars) and Youtube (@ocustars). Catch every OCU home game and select away games on the SAC Sports Network.