Rifle Looks to Continue Success on Road
November 14, 2014 01:09 PM | General
.JPG) |
| Ziva Dvorsak |
The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team looks to continue its success in two conference matches on the road this weekend, Saturday, Nov. 15 vs. No. 16 Ole Miss (at West Point, N.Y.), and Sunday, Nov. 16, at No. 12 Army.
The five-time reigning Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Champions and last year’s regular-season title holder, WVU (4-0, 2-0 GARC) holds a perfect record in conference play this year.
“Only a handful on this team has experience at Army’s range,” said coach Jon Hammond. “It will create some familiarity by Sunday’s match and will give us the opportunity to challenge ourselves to be the best we can be.”
The Mountaineers hold a 9-3 all-time record over the Rebels (0-2, 0-1 GARC), who they last defeated in the 2012-13 season, 4717-4634. WVU is 34-10 all-time against Army (3-4, 2-2 GARC) and most recently defeated the Black Knights, 4695-4669, on Oct. 26, 2013.
“We obviously don’t have to talk about the fact that we want to win every match we compete in,” said Hammond. “We have an incredibly strong team this year. They’re all improving at slightly different stages. They’re all going to have good phases of the season, but right now they’re all doing well.”
Of note, senior Ziva Dvorsak continues to lead the Mountaineers in air rifle with a 597 average. Junior Michael Bamsey and senior Maren Prediger follow with 594 averages. Senior Thomas Kyanko leads in smallbore, averaging 584, while junior Garrett Spurgeon trails with a 583 average.
“We may have just as much competition within the team as we do outside of it,” Hammond explained. “It pushes all of them. I want to give them all opportunities to count for the team. We’re really fortunate to have that depth. I know I could throw any of them on the counting team, and we would still have an excellent team score.”
The Mountaineers most recently competed in a match at the WVU Rifle Range against No. 10 Memphis on Nov. 8, and defeated the Tigers, 4718-4637. The team’s score was the second highest in school history and just two short of the school and NCAA aggregate record.
Alumni Series | Violet Hewett
Friday, May 01
SWIM: What it Means to Represent West Virginia
Wednesday, April 29
SWIM: What it Means to Become a Mountaineer
Wednesday, April 29
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
