Volleyball: WVU Defense Stops Robert Morris
August 28, 2011 10:35 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Looking for a win on the last day of the WVU Volleyball Mountaineer Invitational, the West Virginia University volleyball team relied on unstoppable defense from senior libero Serinna Russo to guide it to a 3-1 (27-25, 25-13, 21-25, 25-14) win over Robert Morris at the WVU Coliseum today.
The Mountaineers (2-3) led almost the entire match as Russo would not let any Colonial (0-3) hits touch the floor.
“Serinna (Russo), Steph (Mock) and Bridget (Carey) were stellar in the back row and that helped us a ton,” coach Jill Kramer says.
After leading by as much as seven during the first set, West Virginia found itself down 23-21 after the Colonials went on a 5-0 run. The pressure did not shake the Mountaineers’ confidence as the team buckled down on defense and picked up a season-high 40 digs as senior outside hitter Michelle Kopecky slammed down the team’s 16th kill to end the match 27-25.
Carrying the momentum into the second set, the Mountaineers jumped to a quick 18-7 lead and never looked back as freshman Evyn McCoy put down four kills for a .375 hitting percentage.
“Evyn and Abby (Monson) did a great job on the defensive side of things,” Kramer says. “They slowed down balls and got good touches on blocks and followed our game plan. That was something that we got better at throughout the weekend.”
With WVU leading the match 2-0, the Colonials came out with a 6-1 lead before a Mountaineer time out pulled WVU back into the match at a 6-6 tie with kills from McCoy and Kopecky. The match went back and forth until 18-18 when Robert Morris found their offensive stride and ended the match on a 7-3 run.
Forgetting about the loss, the Mountaineers relied on their strong defense to help carry them through the fourth set as Russo picked up 8 digs and the team went on an 11-2 run to start the set. With hitting and service errors plaguing the Colonials, WVU found a rhythm as the team recorded eight kills and five blocks on its way to winning the set and the match, 25-14.
“I think it was great to end our tournament on a high note,” Kramer says. “We had a lot of different people contribute in the match which was a good thing. Anke (de Jong) came in and for the first time felt really comfortable on the court and in our system. That was huge because we are going to need her. I thought Kari (Post) did a much better job distributing our offense. Still a little erratic from set to set but when we got it going, we really got it to go so that was good to see.”
Russo and senior setter Kari Post were named to the all-tournament team as they recorded 102 digs, 5 service aces and 5.37 digs per set and 159 assists and 66 digs, respectively.
“I think opening the season here is always really special and this was a big production with a lot of teams so we had a lot of people involved and I would like to thank them for all their help,” says Kramer. “I think the most important thing is that our team and everyone understand that this is a process. We are looking forward to competing again next weekend and getting better and better as the season goes along.”
WVU returns to action next weekend as they travel to Texas to take on Texas-San Antonio, Texas State and Baylor Sept. 4-6.
The Mountaineers (2-3) led almost the entire match as Russo would not let any Colonial (0-3) hits touch the floor.
“Serinna (Russo), Steph (Mock) and Bridget (Carey) were stellar in the back row and that helped us a ton,” coach Jill Kramer says.
After leading by as much as seven during the first set, West Virginia found itself down 23-21 after the Colonials went on a 5-0 run. The pressure did not shake the Mountaineers’ confidence as the team buckled down on defense and picked up a season-high 40 digs as senior outside hitter Michelle Kopecky slammed down the team’s 16th kill to end the match 27-25.
Carrying the momentum into the second set, the Mountaineers jumped to a quick 18-7 lead and never looked back as freshman Evyn McCoy put down four kills for a .375 hitting percentage.
“Evyn and Abby (Monson) did a great job on the defensive side of things,” Kramer says. “They slowed down balls and got good touches on blocks and followed our game plan. That was something that we got better at throughout the weekend.”
With WVU leading the match 2-0, the Colonials came out with a 6-1 lead before a Mountaineer time out pulled WVU back into the match at a 6-6 tie with kills from McCoy and Kopecky. The match went back and forth until 18-18 when Robert Morris found their offensive stride and ended the match on a 7-3 run.
Forgetting about the loss, the Mountaineers relied on their strong defense to help carry them through the fourth set as Russo picked up 8 digs and the team went on an 11-2 run to start the set. With hitting and service errors plaguing the Colonials, WVU found a rhythm as the team recorded eight kills and five blocks on its way to winning the set and the match, 25-14.
“I think it was great to end our tournament on a high note,” Kramer says. “We had a lot of different people contribute in the match which was a good thing. Anke (de Jong) came in and for the first time felt really comfortable on the court and in our system. That was huge because we are going to need her. I thought Kari (Post) did a much better job distributing our offense. Still a little erratic from set to set but when we got it going, we really got it to go so that was good to see.”
Russo and senior setter Kari Post were named to the all-tournament team as they recorded 102 digs, 5 service aces and 5.37 digs per set and 159 assists and 66 digs, respectively.
“I think opening the season here is always really special and this was a big production with a lot of teams so we had a lot of people involved and I would like to thank them for all their help,” says Kramer. “I think the most important thing is that our team and everyone understand that this is a process. We are looking forward to competing again next weekend and getting better and better as the season goes along.”
WVU returns to action next weekend as they travel to Texas to take on Texas-San Antonio, Texas State and Baylor Sept. 4-6.
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