Volleyball: WVU Set for BIG EAST Road Trip
September 29, 2006 10:24 AM | General
September 29, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team looks to build upon the strength it exhibited against conference leader St. John’s on Sept. 24 during its BIG EAST road trip this weekend.
WVU (1-15, 0-2 BIG EAST) will take on Villanova (7-9, 1-1 BIG EAST) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30. The team will then travel to New Brunswick, N.J., on Sunday, Oct. 1 to face Rutgers (4-8, 1-1 BIG EAST) at 2 p.m.
Head coach Veronica Hammersmith is optimistic about this weekend’s competition.
“We have a chance to win one or both of these matches,” the veteran coach says. “I feel we are competitive with the teams we’re going to play. [Winning] is a matter of playing with determination, being mentally strong and winning the close points at the end of the match.”
To get those much needed points Hammersmith says she will look to a variety of sources.
“We should get some points out of the middle at the right side,” she says. “We will definitely look for the left side hitters to help us, Abby [Tevis] in particular.”
West Virginia is coming off a 1-3 loss to St. John’s on Sept. 24. Despite the loss, the Mountaineers forced the Red Storm to work for the victory. WVU kept pace with St. John’s, winning one game and losing two games by only two points.
Tevis, an outside hitter, averages 3.24 kills per game, a team high, and has registered 123 total kills on the season. Middle blocker Lisa Hough leads the Mountaineers with .82 blocks per game and 42 total blocks. Senior libero Aurora Ebert-Santos heads West Virginia’s defense recording 4.14 blocks per game. Ebert-Santos’ 211 blocks to date this season is not only a team high, it is also more blocks than any of WVU’s competitors this weekend have totaled.
Villanova is coming off a 3-0 sweep of Penn on Sept. 27. Outside hitter Alona Cherkez contributed 12 kills in the win and teammate Adrian Semrau added three blocks. Semrau, a middle blocker was named the BIG EAST player of week on Sept 18 for her efforts in helping her team register three consecutive 3-0 victories over Holy Cross, Sacred Hear and UMBC at the Villanova Classic. West Virginia trails the series 6-9.
Rutgers defeated DePaul 3-2 on Sept. 24. Defensive specialist/setter Jamie Godfrey totaled 24 digs against the Blue Demons while outside hitter/utility Lora Yankauskas registered 20 kills. Yankauskas leads Rutgers with 184 kills on the season and averages four kills per game. WVU leads the series 20-15. The Scarlet Knights will face Pitt on Sept. 30.
