Rifle: No. 1 WVU Welcomes No. 7 Nebraska
February 12, 2010 02:24 PM | General
February 12, 2010
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| Nicco Campriani |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team will play host to No. 7-ranked Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 8 a.m., at the WVU Rifle Range.
The match, the second of the season between the Mountaineers (9-0, 5-0 GARC) and the Cornhuskers (6-6, 4-2 GARC), will serve as an NCAA Championship qualifier. Scores from Saturday will be added to the teams’ current averages, with the top eight teams from this weekend’s qualifiers advancing to the NCAA Championship on March 12-13 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Mountaineers enter tomorrow’s match with their Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foe three days after re-earning the nation’s No. 1 ranking with a 4690.33 average; the ranking is based on the average of the team’s best home score and two-best away scores.
“I feel like we’re in good shape for tomorrow’s match,” says fourth-year coach Jon Hammond. “You never truly know, but I think we’re ready to go. We have been waiting for this part of the season all year, so it’s exciting. Still, we are not going to approach this match any differently than we have approached each contest this season. We are just going to go into the range and try to shoot our best.”
The Cornhuskers bring a 4621.67 ranking average to tomorrow’s match.
The Mountaineers defeated NU, 4660-4634, on Oct. 11 in Lincoln, Neb. WVU owns a 4-3 series advantage and has scored victories in each of the last three matches between the two squads.
WVU extended its regular season win-streak to 15 two weeks ago when it defeated Ole Miss, 4696-4576, in Cookeville, Tenn. The victory was the Mountaineers’ ninth of the season. WVU last won its first nine matches in 2001; that team ended the year with an 11-0 mark. Not only did the Mountaineers earn victories in both guns, keeping their unblemished records intact, but their combined-total fell one shot short of their program-best 4697 score, achieved in their Jan. 21 win over Alaska-Fairbanks.
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| Andy Lamson |
The Mountaineers followed their win over the Rebels with a first-place, 4678 showing at the Winthrow Invitational.
Junior Nicco Campriani achieved three school records at the invite, shooting 596 air rifle and 593 smallbore for an 1189 combined score.
Junior Andy Lamson’s 1167.4 combined-score average is the team’s best 10-match mark. The Colchester, Vt., native also paces the team’s smallbore squad with a 578.7 average. Sophomore Michael Kulbacki leads a talented air rifle pack with a 589.1 average. Senior Bryant Wallizer marginally trails Kulbacki with a 589 average, while Lamson owns a 588.7 average.
Tomorrow’s match is the Mountaineers’ final home contest of the season. Fans are encouraged to stop by the WVU Rifle Range throughout the day, as the two squads will shoot into the afternoon.
