Volleyball to Face K-State in Season Finale
November 28, 2014 12:06 PM | General
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| Junior Anna Panagiotakopoulos is just nine digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career. |
| Photo courtesy of WVU Photography |
MANHATTAN, Kansas – The West Virginia University volleyball team will travel to Manhattan, Kansas to close out the regular season on Saturday against Big 12 foe Kansas State in a 9 p.m. ET match at Ahearn Field House.
“We’re looking forward to another great volleyball atmosphere in Manhattan,” said WVU coach Jill Kramer. “We’ve accomplished some great things this season, but it’s not over yet and I think we can get some more things down if we improve our focus and communication.”
Saturday will be the sixth all-time meeting between the West Virginia and Kansas State. The Wildcats own a 4-1 lead in the series, with WVU’s lone win coming at the WVU Coliseum in 2013. The two have never met in nonconference action.
In 2013, the Wildcats became the first Big 12 opponent the Mountaineers recorded a win over as West Virginia upset the then-RV Wildcats with a 3-1 win at the WVU Coliseum to start league play. Hannah Sackett led all players with 15 kills, while Nikki Attea added in 12 and Brittany Sample had 42 assists.
Back on October 25, the Mountaineers fought a tough battle against then-No. 22 Kansas State, falling to the Wildcats in five sets. Attea posted a career-best 25 kills, hitting .512 with 12 digs for a double-double. Anderson joined her with her seventh double-double of the season, going for 21 kills and 13 digs. Evyn McCoy had 10 kills and six blocks as West Virginia rallied back to win the fourth set and force a fifth. Both teams finished with 78 kills and hit better than .250. The Mountaineers recorded 10 team blocks to K-State’s 11.
Previously ranked No. 22 in the in the last meeting between the two teams, the Wildcats have dropped out of the AVCA poll but remain one of the top vote-getters. WVU has faced six ranked teams this season - then-No. 9 BYU (L, 3-0), then-No. 12 North Carolina (L, 3-0), then-No. 2 Texas (L, 3-2), then-No. 22 K-State (L, 3-2), then-No. 25 Oklahoma (L, 3-0) and then-No. 5 Texas (L, 3-0). In addition, the Mountaineers faced Duke while the Blue Devils were receiving votes, falling 3-0. West Virginia has never defeated a ranked opponent, but did top K-State last season when the Wildcats were receiving votes.
West Virginia currently sits in sixth place in the Big 12 with just one match remaining. If the team holds on to that ranking, they will finish one spot higher than their preseason projection of seventh place. The squad emerged from a tie with Baylor for seventh place by defeating the Bears, 3-0.
Junior defensive specialist/libero Anna Panagiotakopoulos is closing in on her 1,000th career dig. The Phoenix, Ariz., native boasts a total of 991 in her three seasons and has a career average of 3.43. She has 225 in her junior season and is averaging 2.42 per set this year.
Saturday’s match will conclude the regular season for the Mountaineers. The squad will finish at least .500 or better for the fourth time in six years and the second straight season under Coach Kramer. They have tied their Big 12 win record from last season (5) with the chance to set a new one on Saturday.
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