Volleyball: Mountaineers Win Final Road Match
November 08, 2009 04:20 PM | General
November 8, 2009
Results
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – In its last road match of the season, the West Virginia University volleyball team defeated Youngstown State this afternoon at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio.
The Mountaineers improved to16-12, 5-7 after defeating the Penguins (7-19, 5-10) in a 3-1 (25-13, 12-25, 25-29, 25-13) match.
WVU jumped to an early 10-5 lead in set one, after a service ace from junior middle blocker Lauren Evans and a kill from senior outside hitter Abby Raines. The Mountaineers continued to dominate the rest of the set with 13 kills and .333 hitting clip, as they went on to win after another service ace from Evans.
Set two started in favor of the Penguins, after they posted a 12-3 lead after a strong performance at the net fueled by Kaitlin O’hara. After an YSU service error, the Mountaineers went on a 4-0 run to close the gap. However, the team could hold on as the Penguins went on several runs and another kill from O’hara ended the set.
The Mountaineers rebounded in set three after sophomore outside hitter Michelle Kopecky posted two – straight kills, followed by two – straight kills from junior middle blocker Abby Norman to extend the WVU lead to 11-6. WVU never looked back as senior outside hitter Kristina Gallahan posted five kills to lead the Mountaineers to victory.
With the momentum in their favor, the Mountaineers started with a 6-0 run in set four, fueled by the serving of junior libero Bonnie West for a 7-1 lead. They Penguins fought to come back but could not handle WVU’s showing at the net as the Mountaineers went on to win the match.
Gallahan led the team with 16 kills and a .325 hitting percentage, while Norman followed with eight kills and a .800 hitting percentage.
Sophomore setter Kari Post also had a good match with 35 assists, seven kills and six digs. West led in digs with 22, while also recording three service aces.
For the second-straight match, the Mountaineers hit above. 200, as they recorded a team .244 hitting percentage today.
The Mountaineers are set to compete the 2009 regular season next weekend with a match against Rutgers at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14 and a match against Seton Hall at Noon on Sunday, Nov. 15.
