Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team advanced to the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) with a 3-0 win over Maryland Eastern Shore Tuesday evening inside the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers defeated the Hawks in set scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-14 to earn their ninth sweep of the season.
 
West Virginia (19-12, 6-10 Big 12) moves on to the NIVC Tournament Second Round and will face Temple (20-9, 15-5 AAC) on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 6 p.m., at the WVU Coliseum. Tickets are available now at WVUGAME.com.
 
"It's the first time in 26 years since we've been in a postseason tournament," said third-year coach Reed Sunahara. "I don't think our players are familiar with this type of match, so they had some jitters tonight. We missed six serves, but we rebounded, and I thought they came out strong after that."
 
Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey hit .387 with a team-best 17 kills to go along with a season-high 17 digs in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Natania Levak added 12, rounding out the Mountaineers in double figures, while senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan was good for seven kills on 12 swings to earn a .417 hitting efficiency.
 
Sophomore setter Erin Slinde had 23 assists, splitting time with senior Emma Anderson, who dished out 18 assists. Senior libero Gianna Gotterba also added 11 digs in the win.
 
WVU finished the match hitting .379 with 53 kills on 103 swings. The Mountaineers also tallied a total of 49 digs and with four service aces. Lucia Babic led the Hawks with nine kills, who hit .169 with 25 kills, six team blocks and 32 digs.
 
Hitting .364 behind 10 kills from Caffrey, West Virginia handily claimed the first set, 25-18. The Mountaineers used four kills from Caffrey on their way to an early 6-4 lead before the Hawks notched three in a row to take the 7-6 advantage. Both squads continued to exchange points, with the set once again tied at 11-11 following a Mountaineer attacking error. West Virginia then used a UMES service error and two more kills from Caffrey to extend their lead to four at 16-12. The Hawks continued to put up a fight, though, as Iva Vujosevic threw down back-to-back kills to bring UMES within two points, down 17-15. However, the Mountaineers rallied late in the frame, taking eight of the next 11 points to give WVU the 1-0 match lead.
 
West Virginia used several UMES' attacking errors to its advantage, jumping out to an early 10-2 lead in the second set. The Hawks then used a 5-0 scoring streak of their own to come within three, down 10-7. The Mountaineers did not surrender their lead, though, as back-to-back kills from freshman middle blocker Briana Lynch, then Swanegan, put WVU at a 19-13 advantage. Slinde added consecutive kills later in the set before a kill from Caffrey brought the Mountaineers to set point at 24-18. Levak then put one through the pins for the 25-18 win, giving WVU a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Mountaineers continued to roll in the third set, hitting .343 with 17 kills, as WVU claimed the 25-14 win. Levak put West Virginia on top early, 4-1, with a kill. The Mountaineers later notched four straight points to take a 14-7 lead before the Hawks cut their deficit to six with back-to-back attacking errors from WVU, down 20-14. However, the Mountaineers finished off the match with four consecutive kills, winning the set 25-14 on a service ace from Caffrey to record their ninth sweep of the season.
 
Of note, round three of the NIVC will take place from Dec. 1-3, followed by the semifinals from Dec. 4-9. The Championship match is slated for Dec. 12, hosted at one of the two remaining schools, with a live broadcast available through WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
 
An updated bracket will be posted later on WVUsports.com.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.