SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist volleyball is set to kick off its season this weekend at the BritKare Lady Buff Classic, hosted by West Texas A&M (Aug. 28-29).
The Bison are looking to continue their momentum following a fantastic 2025 campaign that saw the squad take home its fourth Great American Conference Tournament title and advance to the NCAA Central Regional for the third time in program history.
Oklahoma Baptist enters the season receiving votes in the AVCA/Taraflex Division II Coaches Poll, and was picked to finish second in the GAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
THE TEAM
OBU returns two all-conference selections from last year's GAC championship team.
Rylee Unruh earned First Team All-GAC honors a year ago after finishing in the top three in the league in three different statistical categories.
Emily Boyer also returns after being named a Second Team All-GAC selection and is within striking distance of 3,000 career assists. The Bison return four of their top five leaders in kills from a year ago. Unruh leads the pack with 377 kills last year while
Mackenzie Frazee (221),
Lauren Safrit (179), and
Melody Donegan (170) are also back. Those four accounted for 61.4% of the team's kills in 2025.
Defensively, OBU will need to replace
Karsyn Hunter, who earned All-GAC Honorable Mention accolades after leading the squad with 586 digs. Frazee led the Bison and ranked in the top 50 nationally with 117 total blocks, including a school record 43 solo blocks.
The squad will be led once again by head coach
Anna Howle, who enters the season just 14 wins shy of 450 for her career. She ranks 29th among active NCAA Division II head coaches in career victories and is tied for 105th among active NCAA coaches across all divisions.
OBU added 13 newcomers in the offseason, 12 of which are freshmen. The Bison have have a total of 16 returners, including four starters.
THE SCHEDULE
The 2026 schedule starts with a bang as Oklahoma Baptist will face four ranked opponents in the opening two weeks of action. The Bison take on No. 19 West Texas A&M on Aug. 29 and will square off with No. 12 Central Oklahoma on Sept. 1.
A trip to the Tampa Volleyball Classic from Sept. 4-5 features matchups with No. 24 Missouri-St. Louis and a No. 2 Tampa squad that finished as last year's national runner-up.
The home portion of the slate begins with a GAC contest against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Sept. 8, and the Bison will host a portion of the GAC-MIAA Crossover from Sept. 10-11, which features a contest against an Emporia State squad that is receiving votes in the AVCA/Taraflex Preseason Coaches Poll.
The first conference road contest of the year comes on Sept. 15 in a rematch of last year's GAC Tournament Championship match against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
In all, the Bison will play 13 times at home, 10 times on the road, and five times on a neutral court. The 2026 GAC Tournament is set for Nov. 12-14 at Firelake Arena in Shawnee.
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