Volleyball Falls to No. 5 Texas
November 12, 2014 10:49 PM | General
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AUSTIN, Texas – Despite posting its best hitting percentage since late October, the West Virginia University volleyball team couldn’t overcome a blazing Texas offense and fell to the No.5-ranked Longhorns, 3-0, in Big 12 action at Gregory Gym in Austin on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers (13-13, 3-9) hit for a .247 clip, their best attacking percentage since hitting .263 against No. 22 Kansas State on October 25. The Longhorns (19-1, 11-1) finished with a .512 hitting percentage, recording 52 kills in the process. WVU previously took then-No. 2 Texas to five sets at the WVU Coliseum on September 24.
“We worked a lot on the game plan about how we wanted to attack them offensively, and I thought we did a good job with that,” said WVU coach Jill Kramer. “Our attackers did a pretty good job of tooling the block and moving the ball around. They knew where to go with off-speed shots and when to swing and when not to swing.”
Jordan Anderson had 10 kills to lead West Virginia, hitting .226 in the process. Hannah Shreve registered six kills, hitting for a .455 clip, while Nikki Attea and Evyn McCoy each added five. Caleah Wells found the court on four occasions, with Hannah Sackett and Morgan Montgomery contributing a trio of kills apiece. McCoy hit an impressive .556, but it was Montgomery who was a perfect 3-for-3 on swings.
Shreve led the blocking effort, posting a block solo and a trio of block assists as the Mountaineers tallied 5.0 team blocks. Sackett added a pair of block assists, while Attea, McCoy and Wells each added on as well.
McCoy, Melvina Brown and Lamprini Konstantinidou each recorded a service ace. Konstantinidou also dished out a team-best 19 assists, with Brittany Sample contributing 15. Gianna Gotterba dug a team-best seven balls, while Anderson went for six. Sample and Attea each had three.
After starting in a 3-0 hole, the Mountaineers worked their way to a 3-3 tie on back-to-back blocks by Shreve. The Longhorns took a 9-7 lead on a kill and would remain a point ahead, with kills by Sackett and Wells keeping the set within reach for WVU. A 3-0 Texas run gave the Longhorns a 14-10 advantage, but kills from Anderson and Attea brought the Mountaineers within two once more at 17-15. Shreve registered a block and a kill, followed by a kill from Sackett, to cut the WVU deficit to just one point, down 21-20. However, the Longhorns rattled off five straight, including a pair of aces, to take the first set by a score of 25-20.
Shreve hit for a .750 clip with three kills to lead West Virginia in set two, but the Mountaineers surrendered a lead midway through and couldn’t catch back up. McCoy put down a kill then teamed with Wells for a block to tie the set 7-7. Another kill from Wells and a blocking error on the Longhorns pushed the Mountaineers in front 10-9. A trio of Longhorn kills and a WVU attacking error gave Texas the 13-10 lead, and the Horns soon made it 19-13 on a pair of kills. McCoy found the court with a kill and a service ace, but Texas took five of the final six points of the set in earning the 25-17 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
Hitting a match-high .333 in the third set, the Mountaineers couldn’t overcome the Longhorns’ .552 attaching percentage and 18 kills. The freshman came through early in the set with a Montgomery kill and a Brown ace tying the set 6-6. A 3-0 run gave Texas a 9-6 lead, which the Longhorns soon stretched to 14-9, forcing WVU to use a timeout. Montgomery put down the kill out of the break, while McCoy added one as well though Texas held a 16-11 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Shreve and Attea forced the Longhorns to burn a timeout, but they came back to put down three kills and a block to win the set, 25-18, and take the match 3-0.
West Virginia returns home to host Texas Tech in a 3:30 p.m. match at the WVU Coliseum on Saturday.
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