General November 17, 2014 11:56 AM

Forsey Named Athlete of the Week

Forsey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sophomore runner Jillian Forsey of the No. 7 West Virginia University cross country team has been named the Varsity Sports Report Athlete of the Week following a second-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.

Forsey paced five Mountaineer runners in the top 15, placing in second-place overall in 20:18. The Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, native earned NCAA All-Mid-Atlantic honors for the second time in as many seasons, while leading WVU to its seventh NCAA Championship qualification in the last eight seasons.

Forsey and the Mountaineers travel to Terre Haute, Indiana, for the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 22.

This Week in Women’s Soccer: The No. 7-ranked Mountaineers finished their 2014 season with a 16-2-4 record … WVU concluded the year riding a 19-match unbeaten streak, the longest streak in program history.

Last Week in Women’s Soccer: WVU failed to move past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, falling 4-3 in a penalty-kick shootout to Georgetown on Nov. 15, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … knotted at 0-0 after 110:00 minutes of play, the squads entered the shootout, with WVU missing its first and third attempts, and redshirt-freshman Michelle Newhouse making a save on GU’s fourth attempt … junior Hannah Steadman earned her 11th shutout of the season, the team’s 12th, and matched her career high with six saves … freshman forward Michaela Abam finished with a career-high 10 shots, and WVU earned a 30-12 edge in shots and an 8-5 edge in corner kicks.

Notes & Quotes: WVU made its 15th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the eighth-longest active streak in the nation … the squad earned a No. 3 seed, its first seed since earning a No. 3 seed in 2010 … it was the first time in the team’s 19-year history the squad was eliminated from the tournament by PKs … WVU is 12-14-2 in all-time NCAA Tournament play and 14-3-2 against GU … WVU’s 16 wins are tied for the third-best single-season showing in program history, and its two losses are the fewest ever by a Mountaineer team … Steadman’s single-season shutout total is tied for third all-time in the Mountaineer record book … Saturday was the final contest for seniors Kate Schwindel, Jess Crowder, Ali Connelly and Katie Osterman … the class finished with seven conference titles and a 60-14-12 career record.

This Week in Men’s Soccer: The men’s soccer season is now complete.

Last Week in Men’s Soccer: WVU fell 3-2 to Bowling Green in overtime in the semifinal match of the MAC Championship on Friday evening in Akron, Ohio … senior Andy Bevin and junior Jamie Merriam notched their 13th and ninth goals, respectively, in the loss.

Notes and Quotes: West Virginia completed the season with an 11-7-1 record (3-1-1 MAC) … Bevin finished the season with the team lead in goals (13), assists (8) and points (34) … Bevin completed his career at WVU ranked No. 3 in assists (19), No. 5 in points (81) and No. 7 in goals (31) … his 34 points this season ranks No. 5 all-time in the single-season records, while his 13 goals ranks No. 10 all-time … Merriam finished second on the team in goals (9) and points (23), while adding five assists … freshman Joey Piatczyc set the single-season assists record by a freshman with eight … Bevin was named the MAC Player of the Year, Piatczyc was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and coach Marlon LeBlanc was named the MAC Coach of the Year … Bevin and Merriam were each named All-MAC First Team, while Piatczyc, junior Ryan Cain, senior Lee Johnston and sophomore Jack Elliott earned All-MAC Second Team honors … additionally, Bevin and Merriam were named to the All-MAC Tournament Team.

Coach Marlon LeBlanc: “You win with grace and you lose with dignity. We didn’t play very well in the first 45 minutes. It was almost like we expected things were going to go our way and they put a lot of numbers behind the ball. We were sloppy in terms of our connection and they were able to counter.”

This Week in Volleyball: After a bye, the Mountaineers will host Baylor to wrap up their Big 12 home schedule on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m. ... senior Evyn McCoy will be honored at the match.

Last Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers finished the week 1-1 in Big 12 action ... Jordan Anderson led the squad with 10 kills vs. No. 5 Texas, but the squad couldn’t pull out a victory and dropped the match, 3-0 ... WVU rebounded with a 3-0 sweep of Texas Tech, marking the Mountaineers’ first Big 12 sweep of the season and ending a five-match skid ... Anderson and Nikki Attea led the way with 13 and 12 kills, respectively ... Hannah Shreve finished the weekend hitting .455.

Coach Jill Kramer: “I thought this was a great team win,” said WVU coach Jill Kramer after the TTU win. “We did some things a little bit differently with the lineup and I like the way it worked for us. We didn’t play quite as clean as I think we would have liked but the big thing was we stayed the course when it got tight. After being up 2-0, we came out really strong and that was something we’ve really struggled with. I was happy we changed our energy going onto the court for the third set and made things happen.”

This Week in Cross Country: The No. 7 West Virginia University cross country team travels to Terre Haute, Indiana, for the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Championships.

Last Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers raced to a second-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet in University Park, Pennsylvania, earning an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship … five WVU runners placed in the top 15, recording a team score of 42.

Notes & Quotes: Sophomore Jillian Forsey and senior Kaitlyn Gillespie placed second and third, respectively, last weekend … Forsey and Gillespie joined Brynn Harshbarger, Maggie Drazba and Sydney Scott as Mountaineers who garnered All-Mid-Atlantic region honors for finishing in the top 25 … marked Gillespie’s third all-region distinction, Scott’s second and Forsey’s second in as many seasons … West Virginia has qualified for the NCAA Championships seven times in eight seasons under the direction of coach Sean Cleary.

Coach Sean Cleary: “They ran really hard today. To go and score 42 points against the second-ranked team in the country, is a great feat. We’re really proud of our girls.”

This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers are idle until the start of its spring season.

Last Week in Tennis: WVU was idle last week.

Notes & Quotes: The Mountaineers have a combined overall record of 68-40 this fall ... freshman Carolina Lewis stands at a team-best with a record of 11-3 in singles play ... freshman Lyn Yuen Choo holds a combined record of 16-7 this fall season ... senior Ikttesh Chahal and junior Hailey Barrett are undefeated in doubles play (4-0).

This Week in Swimming and Diving: Following a four-week break from competition, the West Virginia University swimming and diving teams return to the pool for the Mizzou Invite in Columbia, Missouri … the three-day event kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 20, and concludes on Saturday, Nov. 22.

Last Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers were idle last week.

Notes & Quotes: This marks the second straight season WVU will compete in the Mizzou Invite, with the men finishing third and the women placing sixth a season ago … the men’s squad sits at 1-1 to start the 2014-15 campaign, while the women are still searching for their first dual-meet win of the season … the men earned a 174-85 win over Villanova in their most-recent outing, led by a sweep in the 500 free and 1,000 free by freshman Pierce Bradshaw … the women fell just short against the Wildcats, however, senior Julie Ogden earned a sweep in the 100 and 200 fly events.

Coach Vic Riggs: “We have had a good month of training and preparation for this meet. The team seems ready to race after a month off, and I feel we should see some pretty good results this week.”

This Week in Rowing: The Mountaineers are idle until the start of its spring season.

Last Week in Rowing: WVU was idle last week.

This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team (6-0, 4-0 GARC) takes on two Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foes this weekend at the WVU Rifle Range going head-to-head with No. 9 Navy on Nov. 22 and No. 15 NC State on Nov. 3.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU competed in two conference matches on the road last week ... on Saturday, Nov. 15, they defeated No. 16 Ole Miss, 4699-4568 ... on Sunday, Nov. 16, they shot 4717, three short of the school and NCAA aggregate record, to defeat No. 9 Army (4644).

Notes & Quotes: The Mountaineers won both disciplines in each match … WVU (6-0, 4-0 GARC) won both disciplines against Ole Miss, outshooting the Rebels (0-3, 0-2 GARC) in smallbore, 2328-2238, and air rifle, 2371-2330 … freshman Elizabeth Gratz placed first in smallbore with a career-high 584 (194 kneeling, 200 prone, 190 standing) mark … senior Ziva Dvorsak placed first in air rifle, scoring 596 (99-100-99-100-99-99) … WVU outshot the Black Knights in smallbore, 2335-2311, and air rifle, 2382-2333 … the Mountaineers’ air rifle score ties a school and NCAA record … sophomore Jean-Pierre Lucas placed first in smallbore with a season-high 587 (197 kneeling, 197 prone, 193 standing) mark … in air rifle, senior Maren Prediger matched a career-high 599 (100-100-100-100-99-100) score for first place.

Coach Jon Hammond: “Many of these athletes will take confidence into next weekend. I’m happy that they are still very motivated and really looking to keep improving. Next week will be the final matches of the semester, so they will be ready for a break but also will look for a strong finish to the semester.”

This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia will head to the Navy Classic in Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday Nov. 22.

Last Week in Wrestling: The Sammie Henson era debuted at the WVU Coliseum on Thursday when the Mountaineers hosted Arizona State and former WVU assistant Zeke Jones ... the Mountaineers took four bouts but fell 19-13 to the Sun Devils ... sophomore Jake A. Smith earned a 6-1 decision at 197 over ASU’s Wesley Moore to put the Mountaineers on the board down 15-3 before HWT A.J. Vizcarrondo won a thrilling bout by tiebreaker, 5-4 ... freshman Zeke Moisey, who was expected to redshirt the season, made his official WVU debut and took a 12-2 major decision from Judson Preskitt at 125 pounds ... Michael Morales earned a sudden victory with a takedown in overtime to win his match 3-1 at 141 pounds.

Coach Sammie Henson: “I think if you see our guys, our guys are in shape. We need to work on our offense. We’re not getting our attacks off and we’re not doing the right things as far as staying with the game plan.The guys who won, like Jake Smith, stayed to the system and that’s what we talked about. Some of our guys went back to what they used to do when things got tough and I think it cost us the match.”

This Week in Women’s Basketball: The No. 17-ranked West Virginia hosts Seton Hall Monday evening at 7 p.m. in the Preseason WNIT quarterfinal round ... the winner of the contest will take on Mississippi State either on Wednesday or Thursday in the semifinals ... the Preseason WNIT Championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. ET and will air nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Last Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia opened the 2014-15 season with a 67-42 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the first round of the Preseason WNIT ... junior Bria Holmes scored 23 points in the contest. Holmes tied a career-high with nine field goals ... her 24 FG attempts and 12 3FG attempts were 10th most by a WVU junior in a single game ... Linda Stepney (13) and Averee Fields (12) contributed with double figures ... Crystal Leary led the team in rebounding with 11.

Notes and Quotes: West Virginia is 3-1 in the Preseason WNIT … The Mountaineers reached the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT during its only other appearance in 2009 … WVU is now 13-1 in home openers under coach Mike Carey.

Coach Mike Carey: “We just have to play. We know we have Seton Hall coming up and it will probably be the most athletic team we will play. They have a lot of transfers on their team, and they play 11 people.”

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Forsey Named Athlete of the Week