MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team will don pink jerseys as part of its annual Dig Pink match when the Mountaineers host Big 12 foe Kansas State on Wednesday at the WVU Coliseum. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
“I know our players love supporting this cause,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. “I thought we made some good adjustments, especially our energy, at the end of our last match. We’ve had some extra time to work on things in practice and will look to carry that over to our match.”
Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match in support of the cause and can make a donation to the Mountaineers’ campaign with the
Side Out Foundation throughout the month of October. In addition to Dig Pink, it will also be a Dollar Night with admission and select concession just $1. Tickets are available in advance at
WVUGame.com.
WVU had an unexpected weekend off after Saturday’s match against Oklahoma was canceled due to the Sooners’ travel complications. The contest was rescheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24, in Norman, Oklahoma and will precede the originally scheduled match between the two on Wednesday, Nov. 25. The Sooners are now scheduled to play a pair of matches in Morgantown in 2016.
The Mountaineers (5-15, 0-7) face the Wildcats (12-8, 4-4) for the eighth time in program history on Wednesday. All seven prior meetings have come as part of league play, starting in 2012 when West Virginia joined the Big 12. WVU is 2-5 all time in the series, thought the two wins both have significant meaning to the Mountaineers. K-State has been ranked in three of the seven meetings, but is not currently in the AVCA Poll.
K-State enters the match at 12-8 overall and 4-4 in league play. The Wildcats rank second in the Big 12 in both kills (14.32 per set) and assists (13.12 per set) and lead the conference in digs (16.55 per set). Brooke Sassin ranks just behind WVU’s Morgan Montgomery with 3.54 kills per set, while setter Katie Brand is second with 11.08 assists per set. Kerston Kober sits fourth in digs per set with 4.26, while Katie Brand (3.11) and Bryna Vogel (2.92) also rank inside the top 10.
K-State won a 3-0 match in Manhattan on October 10 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. Caleah Wells hit .440 with 11 kills to lead the Mountaineers, who hit .194 as a team. The Wildcats finished with 45 kills and hit for a .245 team clip in the win.
Two of the Mountaineers’ prior wins over K-State have significant meaning to the WVU volleyball program. West Virginia took a 3-2 upset victory over the Wildcats on November 29 to cap the season, marking their first win over a top-20 RPI program. The win also set a new Big 12 wins mark for WVU with six in its third season in the league. The Mountaineers also claimed a 3-1 win over K-State on September 27, 2013. The victory marked WVU’s first-ever Big 12 triumph.
With an injury to Brittany Sample, junior Haley Roe has stepped into the role of setter. Appearing in 20 matches prior to this season, Roe worked her way into the starting rotation at defensive specialist. She took over at setter on Oct. 3 at Kansas and has averaged 9.47 assists per set in that time, a number that would rank her sixth in the league.
