Varsity Sports Report: Villers Earns Weekly Honor
February 11, 2008 03:57 PM | General
February 11, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- Senior Jared Villers defeated his Pitt opponent Dave Crowell on Feb. 8, when he scored an important technical fall to put WVU in a key position to win, only to lose in the final bout in the heavyweight division. The Mountaineers fell to Pitt 18-17.
His technical fall on Friday was his second straight, scoring another against Lock Haven on Sunday, Feb. 3. This season he leads the Mountaineers with 14 wins and continues to stay undefeated in dual meets (10-0) and EWL matches (4-0).
Villers is ranked No. 12 in the country in the latest InterMat/NWCA poll, and finished 4th in the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational earlier this season.
This Week in Wrestling
The West Virginia University wrestling team heads into non-conference action with their 46th meeting against Ohio on Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. at Athens, Ohio.
Last Week in Wrestling
The Mountaineers (6-3, 3-1) lost to Eastern Wrestling League rival and No. 22 ranked Pitt, 18-17, on Friday, Feb. 8, at the WVU Coliseum … senior Jared Villers (197) scored a 17-2 technical fall in the second-to-last match to put WVU ahead, 17-15 … junior Kyle Turnbull (125) started the match with a 3-1 decision in overtime … David Jauregui (149) also won a hard-fought match, earning the decision over Joe Ciampoli, 6-5 … Donnie Jones (165) extended his EWL record to 4-0 after beating Ethan Headlee in a 4-3 decision … Kurt Brenner (184) also continued his hot streak after earning a 6-4 decision over Dave Sullivan … Chance Litton (174) put forth a valiant effort against No. 1 ranked Keith Gavin, losing in a 4-2 decision.
Notes & Quotes
Friday night’s attendance against Pitt was a season-high 1,309 … the Mountaineers concluded their home matches for the 2007-08 season … three wrestlers remain undefeated in EWL play: Donnie Jones, Kurt Brenner and Jared Villers … Villers is the lone Mountaineer to remain undefeated in dual matches, reaching 10-0.
“It’s disappointing. It was nice to see that many people in the Coliseum for a wrestling match. I don’t think I’ve seen that many people since Greg Jones’ senior night.” -senior Jared Villers
This Week in Swimming and Diving
The West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will have one more week of training before traveling to the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y., for the BIG EAST Championships on February 20.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving
The Mountaineers were idle last week.
Notes & Quotes
This season the Mountaineers have swam their way to a 2-3 record in BIG EAST competition as they head into the BIG EAST Championships ... the Mountaineers have posted wins against Georgetown and Cincinnati, while falling to Louisville, Pitt and Notre Dame … also this season, the Mountaineers have managed to break eight records at the WVU Natatorium … on the women’s side sophomore Kayla Andrews broke the record for the 100 Free with a time of 50.59 against Louisville, beating the previous time of 51.46 ... junior Lindsay Largo also broke a Natatorium record in the 1650 Free recording a time of 17:00.3 … the previous record was 17:02.76 … in the 100 Breast sophomore Kitti Veisz set a new natatorium record against Louisville with a time of 1:04.69 ... WVU’s relay teams have also done well this season breaking natatorium records in the 200 Medley and in the 400 Medley … the 200 Medley team grabbed the new record with a time of 1:46.00 against Marshall, the previous record was 1:47.70, while the 400 Medley team smashed the previous record of 3:52.21 with a time of 3:48.33.
On the men’s side senior Kevin Donohue broke a natatorium record in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:01.15, defeating the prior record of 2:04.51, while senior Nick Delic captured a record in the 100 Fly with a time of 48.41, the previous record was 49.10 ... junior Michael Walker also recorded a natatorium record, with a time of 1:51.33 in the 200 IM, breaking the former record of 1:51.49.
This Week in Women's Track
West Virginia is off this week and next competes at the BIG EAST Championships Feb. 23-24, in New York City at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory.
Last Week in Women's Track
WVU had one event champion at the Virginia Tech Elite meet on Feb. 8-9, at Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va. … Maggie Smith won her group in the pole vault as she cleared 3.60 meters … that mark qualified her for the ECAC Championships … in pole vault, Kristen Loughry tied for third after clearing a career-best 3.80 meters … Keri Bland just barely finished second in the elite group of the 1-mile run at 4:51.72 … Bland was edged out by Wake Forest’s Nicole Schappert who crossed in at 4:51.04 … WVU freshman Chelsea Carrier qualified for the finals in the 60-meter hurdles and finished in 8.68 seconds for sixth place … April Rotilio ran the 200 meters in 24.79 for 10th place and took ninth in the 400-meters at 55.54 seconds to post two ECAC qualifying times … Alexis Noel turned in a long jump of 5.84m to place fourth and qualify for BIG EAST and ECAC Championships … in separate division of the 400-meter dash, Jordann Mitchell took 13th with a time of 59.56 … Karly Hamric ran well in the 800-meter run to take eighth place in 2:13.37, a BIG EAST qualifying time … Hamric finished just six seconds behind race champion Phoebe Wright of Tennessee.
Notes & Quotes
Ahna Lewis also picked up a BIG EAST qualifying mark in the 3,000 meters at 10.01.80 … in the high jump, Natasha Redman and Katelyn Williams each leaped 1.65 meters.
“I’m thrilled with the way our program competed this weekend. We had our best meet of the year against the best competition. With next weekend off, we will have ample time to train hard for the league championships.” - Head Coach Sean Cleary
This Week in Rifle
The rifle team will play host to Virginia Military Institute on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 8 a.m.
Last Week in Rifle
The Mountaineers were idle last week.
Notes & Quotes
The Mountaineers are now 7-3 on the season and are on a three-match win streak ... the NCAA qualifiers will be on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the VMI match, followed by the GARC Championships, to be held at Ole Miss on Feb. 23-24 ... the 2008 NCAA Rifle Championships will be held on March 15-16, at West Point Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.
This Week in Women's Basketball
West Virginia returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 13, when they play host to 18th-ranked rival Pitt … tip-off at the WVU Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. … WVU will then face DePaul on Feb. 16, at 2 p.m.
Last Week in Women's Basketball
The Mountaineers came back to defeat Providence 63-60, Feb. 10, at Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I. … Olayinka Sanni scored 20 points and LaQuita Owens added 18 points to lead the Mountaineers … Chakhia Cole was the third Mountaineer in double figures with 13 … West Virginia shot just 39.5 percent from the floor but hit 23-of-32 from the foul line and also forced the Friars into 23 turnovers … Providence (11-11, 1-8) was led by Kendria Holmes’ career-high 28 points.
Notes & Quotes
Coming into a critical week that includes two-ranked opponents, West Virginia’s record sits at 19-3, 8-1 in conference play … Meg Bulger returned to action against Providence after not playing in the last three games ... WVU is just the 12th team in NCAA history to boast four 1,000 point scorers ... WVU has won eight straight, seven consecutive in BIG EAST play.
This Week in Gymnastics
The Mountaineers (5-7, 2-0) will face EAGL foe North Carolina in a dual meet at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 15, at 8 p.m.
Last Week in Gymnastics
The Mountaineers scored 192.750 points but fell to No. 7 LSU and No. 15 Auburn on Feb. 8, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La. … LSU had season highs on every event to score an impressive 197.050 points to win the tri-meet, while Auburn totaled 195.475 points for second place … WVU junior Mehgan Morris competed in all four events to total an all-around score of 38.825 points, while Amy Bieski finished with 38.175 points in the all-around … West Virginia rebounded from a slow start to post 48.55 points on vault in rotation three and 48.85 points on its final event, bars … Chelsi Tabor led WVU with a 9.775 on vault, while Morris’ 9.875 on bars tied for second place at the meet … Morris’ bars score tied her season-best from a week ago … the Mountaineers scored just 47.975 points on floor and 47.375 points on beam in the first rotations … sophomore Shelly Purkat and Morris tied for the team-high with 9.725 points on floor, while Purkat had a team-best 9.7 on beam.
Notes & Quotes
WVU is 21-13 all-time against North Carolina since first facing the Tar Heels in 1979 … the Mountaineers topped UNC three times in 2007, once in the regular season at Kentucky, once at the EAGL Championships and once at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
This Week in Women's Tennis
The West Virginia University tennis team travels to northeast Ohio to battle Akron on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m.
Last Week in Women's Tennis
WVU (3-1) defeated Eastern Michigan, 4-3, on Friday, Feb. 8, at the Ridgeview Racquet Club … the Mountaineers were led by the efforts of Natalia Prinz, who garnered a victory in singles and doubles competition … at No. 3 singles, Prinz won her second three-set match of the season after defeating Catharina Bestehorn, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 … Prinz also teamed with senior Stacey Percival to earn WVU’s only doubles win, beating Frankowski/Bestehorn, 8-6 … Monica Lyskawa defeated Sandra Wikstrom, 6-1, 6-1, in No. 2 singles … Colleen Speaker also delivered a victory for WVU, winning against Aleksandra Stankovic, 6-4, 6-3 … At No. 6 singles, Gabriela Blaskovicova defeated Flavia Micati, 6-2, 6-2, to get her second win of the season in as many matches.
Notes & Quotes
The Mountaineers start out the season 2-0 at home … in its past two matches, WVU has won nine of 12 singles matches … WVU will take a long hiatus from home matches, not hosting another until Friday, March 14, against BIG EAST foe Seton Hall at 5 p.m.
“Winning the first five sets goes a long way, and it really helps us grind teams down” – WVU head coach Marc Walters
