Matlari Named Student-Athlete of the Week

September 25, 2017 02:41 PM | General, Golf, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming & Diving, Volleyball

By: WVU Athletic Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - After leading WVU to a first-place finish at the Janney VCU Shootout, West Virginia golf sophomore Philipp Matlari has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

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In his WVU debut, Matlari finished eighth, shooting 70-68-72=210 for six under par. His scores were counted in all three rounds of the invitational.

The Leimen, Germany, native helped WVU tie a program record with a team-low round of 275. The Mountaineers also set a program record with a three-round score of 842, 22 under par. It marked WVU's second win since reinstating the program in 2015.

This Week in Women's Soccer: The No. 5-ranked Mountaineers conclude their three-week swing away from Morgantown at Kansas State on Friday, Sept. 29, at 8 p.m. EST, in Manhattan, Kansas.

Last Week in Women's Soccer: WVU (8-3, 1-1) split its Big 12 Conference opening weekend, winning 2-1 (OT) at Baylor on Sept. 22 before falling, 1-0, at No. 17 Texas on Sept. 24 … senior defender Amandine Pierre-Louis delivered the win Friday night, scoring a golden goal on a free kick in the 96th minute … senior forward Heather Kaleiohi broke scoreless play in the 88th minute, connecting on her second goal of the season … BU answered with 34 seconds on the clock … WVU finished with a 19-10 shot edge and tallied nine shots on-goal … sophomore Rylee Foster made two saves for the win … two days later, another late goal proved lethal for the Mountaineers' as UT's Cyera Hintzen scored in the 88th minute to hand WVU its first Big 12 regular-season loss since 2013 … the Longhorns finished with a 14-13 edge in shots … WVU made six saves, with Foster credited with five and the Mountaineers placed five shots on-goal.

Notes: WVU is now 36-2-3 all-time in Big 12 matches … junior forward Sh'Nia Gordon assisted on Kaleiohi's goal … WVU is now 3-3 against top-25 opponents this season … the Mountaineers improved to 1-1 in overtime matches this year … the Wildcats are the lone first-time opponent on WVU's schedule.

This Week in Men's Soccer: West Virginia travels to Pitt on Tuesday for the Backyard Brawl, at 7 p.m. ET … the Mountaineers return home to host No. 14 Pacific on Sunday, Oct. 1, at noon ET at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … tickets are available at WVUGAME.com and at the DDSS ticket office … the match is Monongalia County School Day, and elementary and middle school students from schools in the county will be honored at halftime … additionally, the first 250 fans in attendance will receive free WVU texting gloves.

Last Week in Men's Soccer: The Mountaineers went 2-0 last week, with a 3-0 win at American on Sept. 19 and a 1-0 home win over Dayton on Sept. 23 … Tuesday in Washington, D.C., freshman Tom Shepherd and sophomore Lucca Barbaris scored their first career goals … the defense held the Eagles to eight shots, four on goal, as junior goalkeeper Stephen Banick made two saves in 65 minutes … Saturday against Dayton, sophomore Ryan Kellogg scored the game's only goal, the first of his career, with 28 seconds remaining in the match … junior goalkeeper Stephen Banick made three saves and had his sixth shutout of the season.

Notes: WVU is 6-1-2 and has won three in a row … Tuesday's match at Pitt marks the end of a five-game stretch in the span of just 14 days, with all but one game coming on the road … Tuesday's Backyard Brawl in Pittsburgh is the first meeting between WVU and Pitt since 2011 … the Mountaineers are 33-9-5 all-time against the Panthers and unbeaten in their last 10 games in the rivalry, dating back to 2001 … a season-high crowd of 1,008 saw WVU beat Dayton on Saturday night … Pacific, ranked in the Top 25 in several national polls and coming to Morgantown on Sunday, is the first ranked opponent for the Mountaineers this season … three of WVU's four goals last week came from Mountaineers who scored their first career goals: freshman Tom Shepherd and sophomore Lucca Barbaris at American and sophomore Ryan Kellogg against Dayton ... Albert Andres-Llop has netted four goals in the last three games

This Week in Volleyball: West Virginia continues on with Big 12 play when the Mountaineers travel to Texas Tech on Wednesday … first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET inside United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

Last Week in Volleyball: WVU went 1-1 in Big 12 action … the Mountaineers opened league play on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over TCU … sophomore Natania Levak led the way with 17 kills, while freshman Alexa Hasting had 18 digs … the Mountaineers hit .315 in the win … WVU took No. 6 Texas to five sets on Saturday, falling 3-2 … sophomore Payton Caffrey had a team-high 21 kills and 15 digs in the loss … she also had four aces … sophomore Katelyn Evans had 16 kills and senior Mia Swanegan added 13.

Notes: The team's win over TCU pushed its win streak to 10 matches, tying their longest win streak previously set in 2014 … sophomore Payton Caffrey finished the week leading the Big 12 in service aces with six … Caffrey ranked in the top 10 in kills (7th), digs (10th) and points (5th) as well … senior Mia Swanegan ranked second with a .486 attacking percentage … sophomore Erin Slinde was fourth with 11.22 assists per set … freshman Alexa Hasting was fourth with 3.89 digs per set … freshman Lindsay Proctor finished seventh with 0.33 aces per set … Caffrey's 21 kills against Texas were second-most in the league last week.

This Week in WVU Cross Country: Following a two-week break in action, the West Virginia University cross country team will compete at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, Sept. 30 ... the race at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park is set for 10:15 a.m.

Last Week in WVU Cross Country: The Mountaineers were off last week. … WVU last competed on Sept. 8, at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Notes: Saturday marks the fifth time since 2011 that West Virginia will compete in Louisville. … WVU last competed at the Greater Louisville Classic in 2015 when the Mountaineers earned a victory at the event. … Louisville's E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park is also the site for the 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18. … the Mountaineers received votes in the most recent USTFCCCA Division I coaches' poll, the third time this season in which WVU has garnered votes in the poll. … WVU was listed fourth in the Mid-Atlantic Region in last week's USTFCCCA regional rankings.

This Week in Rifle: The No. 1 Mountaineers open their 2017-18 home season at the WVU Rifle Range on Saturday, Sept. 30, against No. 5 Ohio State, at 8 a.m.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU (1-0, 1-0 GARC) opened its season victoriously, defeating No. 9 NC State, 4703-4630, on Sept. 23, at The Citadel's Inouye Marksmanship Center in Charleston, South Carolina … the team swept its Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) foe in both disciplines, winning smallbore, 2331-2284, and air rifle, 2372-2346 … junior Ginny Thrasher earned the individual wins, shooting 595 air rifle and 587 smallbore.

Notes: Junior Will Anti finished fourth in air rifle with a 592 mark, one-shot short of matching his career high and one-shot better than his 2016-17 season best … five Mountaineers combined for the team's scores: Thrasher, senior Elizabeth Gratz, sophomores Milica Babic and Morgan Phillips and redshirt freshman David Koenders … with the win, WVU improved to 19-0 all-time against the Wolfpack … the Citadel will play host to the 2018 NCAA National Championships in March.

This Week in Golf: The team is off until Oct. 9-10, when it hosts The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia.

Last Week in Golf: The Mountaineers picked up their second win in 30 years when they claimed the team title at the Janney VCU Shootout last Monday and Tuesday … after posting a record team-low round of 275 on Monday, WVU finished seven under par in the third round with a 281 … WVU's three-round total of 286-275-281=842 bested the program's 54-hole team total by seven strokes, while its 22 under par is also a seven-stroke improvement … sophomore Philip Matlari shot 70-68-72=210 for eight under par and an eighth-place finish … junior Max Sear finished 10th at five under with a score of 211 … junior Tristan Nicholls shot 212 to finish four under, tying for 12th … sophomore Etienne Papineau and freshman Matthew Sharpstene tied for 19th at two under par with a total score of 214 … playing as an individual, freshman Mark Goetz shot 220 for four over.

Notes: It marks WVU's second win since the 1980s … the team also claimed the East Carolina Intercollegiate last season … three Mountaineers made their debuts as Matthew Sharpstene and Mark Goetz played in their first-ever collegiate events, while Philipp Matlari made the lineup for the first time at WVU as a sophomore transfer … all five WVU scorers placed in the top-20 … Matlari, Sear and Nicholls all carry a scoring average under 71.00 … four players (Matlari, Sear, Nicholls and Papineau) shot at least one round of 60 or better … Sear tied his program low with a 66.

Coach Sean Covich after the Janney Invitational: "It's a great way to start the season. We finally have a lot of depth and I think that showed this week. Even our true freshman who played as an individual, Mark Goetz, had a very solid week. I'm extremely proud of all the guys. Max (Sear) fought hard each day after rough starts – that kid has grit. Etienne (Papineau) and Tristan (Nicholls) played great and our other new guys, Matthew (Sharpstene) and Philipp (Matlari) were outstanding. I can't say enough about my assistant coach, Jay Woodward. He's made all the guys better and he's made me a better coach. We're looking forward to a weekend off, then back at it with some preparation for our only home event of the season, The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational, at Pete Dye Golf Club."

This Week in Swimming and Diving: The West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will begin a new season on Saturday, Sept. 30, with the annual Gold-Blue Meet ... the intrasquad will begin at 10 a.m., at the WVU Natatorium.

Notes: WVU coach Vic Riggs is entering his 11th season at the helm … the Mountaineer men's team is coming off a second-place finish at the Big 12 Championship last season, while the women placed fourth … the Mountaineer divers sent seven participants to the NCAA 'A' Zone Championships last season … WVU's first official meet of the season will be the West Virginia State Games, a two-day competition featuring swimming and diving programs from around the Mountain State, on Friday, Oct. 6, at the WVU Natatorium … junior Jake Armstrong returns to WVU following his 100-yard breaststroke title at the 2017 Big 12 Championship … senior Amelie Currat, the reigning Big 12 Women's Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as junior Morgan Carr, who won last year's Big 12 Women's Swimming and Diving Newcomer of the Year, also return this season … nine Mountaineers competed at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships in East Meadow, New York, in August … five divers competed at the 2017 USA Diving Zone Qualifying Championships in Huntersville, North Carolina, this past summer, while senior Mike Proietto advanced to the USA Diving National Championships in Columbus, Ohio.