MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Mia Swanegan hit for a .300 clip with a team-high 10 kills as the West Virginia University volleyball dropped a 3-0 match to Texas Tech in Big 12 action at the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday evening. The Mountaineers (5-13, 0-5) fell to the Red Raiders (13-7, 2-5) in set scores of 20-25, 19-25 and 20-25.

 

In addition to Swanegan, who also notched a pair of blocks, Morgan Montgomery and Caleah Wells contributed to the WVU offense with nine kills each. Montgomery hit for a .217 clip with a trio of blocks in addition to seven digs. West Virginia finished with 36 kills to TTU’s 43, hitting .134 as a team.

 

Hannah Shreve led the blocking effort with five total blocks as the Mountaineers’ matched the Red Raiders with 7.0 team blocks. Gianna Gotterba was the defensive leader on the floor with a team-high 11 digs. Haley Roe contributed seven digs and assisted on 31 of WVU’s kills while Taylor Cross registered the Mountaineers’ lone service ace of the night.

 

“We did some things well,” said coach Reed Sunahara. “We’re just making too many errors. We had way too many hitting errors. If we’re taking some good swings and have good body control, I say go for it. If we don’t, then somehow we’ve got to keep the ball in play.”

 

The Mountaineers had 14 kills to six errors in the first set. An early 4-0 run put the Red Raiders up 5-2 before WVU used kills from Swanegan and Montgomery to make it a one-point set, down 10-9. TTU rattled off three in a row for an 18-13 advantage, forcing WVU into a timeout. The Mountaineers scored three straight out of the break, but continued to trail by two at 18-16. Texas Tech then tallied the final three points on a pair of kills and a WVU attacking error to win the set 25-20.

 

After hitting .235 in the first set, West Virginia dropped to .067 as they fell in the second set, 25-19. The Red Raiders took five straight points midway through for a 12-7 lead. Montgomery and Shreve found the court for the Mountaineers, but Texas Tech stayed ahead. Shreve added a solo block and teamed with Wells for another to cut the TTU lead to four, down 22-18, but the Red Raiders went on to take the set on a kill to lead the match 2-0.

 

Montgomery hit for an .833 clip in the final stanza, putting down five kills on six swings with no errors, but it wasn’t enough for the Mountaineers. The Red Raiders took six of the first seven points for a 6-1 lead before Swanegan contributed to a pair of blocks on a 5-0 WVU run to tie the set, 7-7. However, the Mountaineers never managed to get ahead, as the Red Raiders rattled off three in a row to serve match-point before taking the set on a kill, 25-20, to win the match 3-0.

 

West Virginia remains at home to host Baylor on Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. match at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers will host a youth clinic following the match, which will also be a Gold Rush. All fans are encouraged to wear gold to the contest.