Rifle Set for Road Trip
October 24, 2014 02:58 PM | General
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| Ziva Dvorsak |
The No. 1 West Virginia University rifle team looks to continue its win streak on the road this Saturday, Oct. 25, at No. 14 Akron, and Sunday, Oct. 26, at No. 10 Ohio State.
Saturday’s competition against the Zips marks the beginning of Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) competition for the Mountaineers. WVU won the GARC regular-season title, as well as its fifth straight GARC Championships, last year.
“We treat conference matches the same as any other match,” said coach Jon Hammond. “It’s nice to get them started because our conference is so competitive, but ultimately we try to treat all of the matches the same.”
The Mountaineers (1-0) are 12-0 all time against Akron and defeated the Zips 4690-4605 last season. Akron (1-1, 1-1 GARC) most recently shot in a match against No. 2 Kentucky on Oct. 12, falling to the Wildcats 4686-4615.
WVU opened last season against Ohio State with a close 4657-4648 win over the Buckeyes, which improved the team to 40-0 all-time over OSU. The Buckeyes (2-0) beat UTEP and No. 11 Nevada in their conference opener.
“It’s great to have one conference and one non-conference match this weekend,” said Hammond. “It’s always a good thing to get competition experience in different ranges.”
The Mountaineers opened the season against No. 6 TCU and defeated the Horned Frogs 4712-4664. They won both smallbore (2340-2308) and air rifle (2372-2356). The aggregate score was higher than any shot in the 2013-14 season and was the sixth-highest score in team history, as well as the highest season-opening match score in team history.
“Having back-to-back matches is hard work,” Hammond said. “It involves more mental and physical endurance, and is ultimately more of a challenge. We have the same objectives and goals to shoot the best that we can for each match, and we will try to put up two good scores against our competitors.”
Of note, senior Ziva Dvorsak and junior Garrett Spurgeon continue to lead the team in air rifle and smallbore, respectively. They each placed first in the disciplines against TCU, Dvorsak scoring 597 and Spurgeon 589.
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