VBall Downs K-State in Season Finale
November 30, 2014 12:03 AM | General
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MANHATTAN, Kansas – Behind double-doubles from Nikki Attea and Jordan Anderson, the West Virginia University volleyball team won a five-set thriller over Kansas State (25-20, 25-21, 14-25, 21-25, 15-13) in its season finale on Saturday night in Manhattan, Kansas.
“Tonight showed how important it is to this team to keep improving year after year,” said coach Jill Kramer. “They stepped up when they needed to and stuck together in a tough Kansas State environment.”
The Mountaineers (16-14, 6-10 Big 12) finished at least .500 or better for the fourth time in six years and the second straight season under coach Jill Kramer. They also set a Big 12 win record, while recording six conference wins in 2014. The six conference wins were the most for West Virginia since the 2009 season.
“We were really not happy about ending our season right now, but it’s nice to beat a team our last match who is going on to postseason play,” Kramer said. “We know we’re headed in the right direction.”
Jordan Anderson finished with 26 kills and 10 digs, marking her ninth double-double of the season. Nikki Attea had 13 kills and 14 digs for the Mountaineers, her fifth double-double of the season.
Attea and Anderson each recorded double-doubles in West Virginia’s first matchup with Kansas State this season on Oct. 25.
Lamprini Konstantinidou tied a season-high with 54 assists and seven digs, Hannah Shreve had seven kills and a team-high six blocks and Hannah Sackett chipped in 10 kills.
Junior libero/defensive specialist Anna Panagiotakopoulos recorded a season-high 19 digs on the night, surpassing the 1,000 dig mark in her career.
“Tonight Anna played the way we know she can,” Kramer said. “She hit a huge milestone and we’re really proud of the effort and leadership she provides for our team.”
West Virginia claimed the first set, 25-20, behind sharp passing and accurate attacks. Anderson had seven kills on 13 attempts, and the Mountaineers hit .484. As a team, WVU had 17 kills to go with just two attack errors.
The Mountaineers trailed 19-15 in the second set before going on an 8-0 run. In total, West Virginia trailed by as many as seven points on four separate occasions before coming all the way back to win the set, 25-21.
West Virginia trailed 9-3 early in set three before fighting back to within three at 17-14. Kansas State, though, would hit .385 in the set and take the third set 25-14.
The fourth set saw 13 ties and four lead changes. KSU ultimately held WVU to just a .096 hitting percentage in the set to pull away late and win the set 25-21.
Kansas State (22-7, 9-6 Big 12), who entered the match ranked No. 18 in the RPI, was led offensively by Kylee Zumach’s 17 kills.
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