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| Freshman setter Lamprini Konstantinidou is the reigning Big 12 Rookie of the Week. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Looking to continue with its hot start to the season, the West Virginia University volleyball team heads to Niagara University, N.Y., to compete in the Purple Eagle Invitational hosted by Niagara University on Friday and Saturday at the Gallagher Center.
The Mountaineers (3-1) open the tournament Friday afternoon when they take on Gardner-Webb in a 1 p.m. match. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Mountaineers and the Runnin’ Bulldogs, who play in the Big South. Gardner-Webb started the season 0-4 after dropping three games in the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, South Carolina, and falling to Appalachian State, 3-1, at home
WVU will then face the host Purple Eagles at 6 p.m. Friday evening. Niagara is 1-3 on the season, having defeated Delaware State at the Syracuse Tournament last weekend. It marks just the second all-time meeting between the two teams, with the Mountaineers earning a 3-0 win in the previous meeting back in 1996.
On Saturday, the squad will face off with a more familiar foe when they take on the Providence Friars in an 11 a.m. tilt. The two teams have met on 16 prior occasions, with both competing in the Big East from the time the WVU joined 1995 to the Friars’ departure in 2001. Providence owns a 9-7 series lead, though West Virginia has taken the last three meetings. This season, PC is 0-4 on the season after competing in the Kristin Dickman Invitational last weekend.
WVU is coming off a 3-0 sweep of Robert Morris in which they posted their highest hitting percentage (.341) since last September. The team is currently on a nine-set win streak, going 3-0 in their previous three wins. They will look to match last season’s streak of 18 consecutive sets won.
