Oklahoma freshman middle blocker Hannah Pfiffner excelled at volleyball during her high school career, and now she is emerging as one of the Sooners’ best attackers.
Through 20 games, she has 114 kills, fourth most on OU. Pfiffner also has 140 points and 44 blocks this season, third most on the team.
Last week at Baylor, Pfiffner notched a career-high with 12 kills in a 3-2 loss.
“It was really exciting,” Pfiffner said. “And I think that game in particular was just a really good game. I feel like we fought pretty hard as a team.”
Tara Pfiffner, Hannah’s mother, attended her first contest since her daughter arrived at Oklahoma.
“She has a teammate from Baylor, Kyndal Stowers, who played at (Texas Advantage Volleyball) with her,” Tara said. “Her mom and I are good friends and she called me and said, ‘Are you going to go to the game?’So, we road-tripped to Waco and I got to see her for the first time live in college.”
Hannah was involved in sports at an early age, particularly soccer.. Hannah only started playing volleyball when a friend recommended she try out the sport.
“I had a friend that had a daughter that went on to play volleyball,” Tara said. “So, we set her up for a little rec league and she loved it. That was the beginning of it for her and she was fast and tall.”
Hannah was a two-sport athlete in high school. Pfiffner played volleyball at Wakeland High School in Frisco, Texas. There, Pfiffner won several accolades including Academic All District 9-5A honoree in 2020 and 2021, Wakeland High School’s 2021 volleyball MVP, and was named to the 2022 AVCA High School All-Region team (region 4) in 2022. As well as playing for TAV.
Pfiffner also was a high jumper for the Wakeland High School track and field team. She was a two-time 5A UIL Texas high jump champion in 2021-22.
Pfiffner said she has considered joining OU’s track and field team.
“I have definitely considered it, and I’ve talked a little bit with the volleyball coaches just to see what it would look like,” Pfiffner said. “I think the next step would be to have a conversation with the track coach and the volleyball coach together to see how the schedules would line up. But I am still trying to figure out if I want to do both or not.”
With OU’s volleyball 2023 regular season near its end, Pfiffner said she has learned just how much she loves to play volleyball. Pfiffner and the Sooners (9-13, 2-10 Big 12) face Houston (14-7, 7-5 Big 12) in a two-game series at 6 p.m. Thursday and 6 p.m. Friday at McCasland Field House in Norman.
“I’ve really learned how much I love volleyball, especially with this team,” Pfiffner said. “I’ve realized how much I love this sport with my teammates and a positive coaching staff.”