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Merriam Named Student-Athlete of the Week
October 05, 2015 02:49 PM | General
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Merriam had a highlight-reel goal in WVU’s 3-2 victory at St. Francis. With 11 seconds left in the first half, Merriam scored the first goal of the game.
Merriam fired a shot from the left side, 30 yards out, into the right side of the net. Senior Zak Leedom fed Merriam the ball on a throw-in that bounced once before Merriam found the ball mid-air, dribbled once and sent it towards the net.
It was Merriam’s third goal of the year. He led WVU in shots with six and shots on goal with three.
This Week in Women’s Soccer: The No. 3/4 Mountaineers return to the road after a five-match homestand and travel to Norman, Oklahoma, for an 8 p.m. match at Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 9 … the contest will be carried by Sooner Sports TV … WVU then travels to Lubbock, Texas, for a 2 p.m. ET match at No. 16 Texas Tech on Sunday, Oct. 11.
Last Week in Women’s Soccer: WVU (11-1, 2-0) pushed its win streak to 10 with a 2-1 victory over TCU on Friday, Oct. 2, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … sophomore forward Michaela Abam netted the game winner in the 82nd minute, pouncing on a rebound off Maggie Bedillion’s initial blast and placing her close-range shot high over the outstretched hands of TCU goalkeeper Shannon Coffer … junior midfielder Ashley Lawrence gave WVU an early lead, scoring 62 seconds into the match for the second-fastest goal in program history … senior midfielder Leah Emaus earned the assist on the goal … TCU’s Emma Heckendorn tallied the Horned Frogs’ goal in the 27th minute, snapping WVU’s nine-match shutout streak … WVU outshot TCU 22-3 and earned a 7-0 edge in corner kicks … senior Hannah Steadman finished with two saves, while Coffer stopped seven.
Notes: WVU needs four more wins to match its program-record win streak of 14, set in 2010 … WVU now shows a 28-match unbeaten streak against conference opponents at DDSS … Abam owns a team-best eight goals, matching her team-best output from 2014 … Lawrence ranks third on the team with 12 points (4 G, 4 A) … TCU is the fourth team this season to fail to earn a corner kick against WVU … WVU was tied at halftime for only the fifth time this season … Friday was WVU’s annual “Pink Match,” and the Mountaineers donated $8,647 this year to Morgantown’s Betty Puskar Breast Care Center … TTU is the only team to defeat the Mountaineers in a Big 12 Conference regular-season match, earning a 2-0 win in WVU’s last visit to Lubbock in 2013.
This Week in Men’s Soccer: WVU’s roadtrip continues at Virginia Tech on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. … the Mountaineers return home to begin conference play vs. Western Michigan on Friday, Oct. 9 … kickoff has been moved 30 minutes later, to 7:30 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Last Week in Men’s Soccer: The West Virginia University men’s soccer team used a pair of highlight-reel goals and withstood two late scores to beat St. Francis (Pa.), 3-2, on a rainy, cold Saturday afternoon in Loretto, Pennsylvania … the Mountaineers (4-5-0) became the first team this season to score on SFU’s home pitch as the Red Flash (5-3-3) allowed more than two goals in a match for the first time this season … WVU’s goals came courtesy of senior Jamie Merriam, sophomore Jad Arslan and freshman Tucker Stephenson … sophomore Joey Piatczyc assisted on the second two goals and now has a nation-best 10 assists on the year … in goal, freshman Alec Boerner had four saves to earn his second career victory … WVU had 16 shots to SFU’s 10, and WVU had five shots on goal and SFU had six.
Coach Marlon LeBlanc on WVU’s Toughness after Saturday’s win in the elements: “It was tough elements, tough surface to play on and tough weather as well, but our guys are pretty tough. Our guys were fantastic. We let them back in the game twice, you have to give credit to St. Francis for being resilient, but we’re a difficult team to beat when we’re clicking on all cylinders. Hopefully we can get on a bit of a roll here.”
This Week in Volleyball: WVU will play two matches, one at home, one on the road … the team will wrap up nonconference play on Wednesday when they host Robert Morris in a 6 p.m. match, at the WVU Coliseum … the Mountaineers will return to Kansas this weekend, as the team faces Kansas State, on Saturday, in a 3 p.m. match, in Manhattan.
Last Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers dropped a pair of Big 12 matches … on Wednesday, West Virginia lost a 3-1 match to TCU at home … Morgan Montgomery had a team-best 14 kills for WVU, while former Horned Frog Mia Swanegan had 13 kills and four blocks … West Virginia then traveled to No. 15 Kansas, falling 3-0 to the Jayhawks in Lawrence on Saturday … Bridgett Talia, Morgan Montgomery, Hannah Shreve and Mia Swanegan each had six kills in the loss.
Coach Reed Sunahara on Saturday’s match at Kansas: “Kansas is one of the best teams in the Big 12, and it showed tonight. We’re going to continue to get better. We just need to keep plugging away and making improvements every day.”
This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers head to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the Wolfpack Intercollegiate at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course … the first round of the 36-hole event will begin with an 11:30 a.m. shotgun start, on Monday … golfers will resume play for the final round on Tuesday, teeing off of holes one and 10 starting at 8 a.m … the event was previously scheduled for 54-holes but was cut to 36 due to weather concerns … Chris Williams, Easton Renwick, Max Sear, Avery Schneider and Tae Wan Lee will compete for the Mountaineers, with Alan Cooke playing as an individual … in addition to host N.C. State, Augusta, UNC Greensboro, Drexel and Western Carolina are among those in the field … WVU is paired with N.C. State and Chattanooga.
Last Week in Golf: West Virginia took 12th place at the Shoal Creek Invitational hosted by Graeme McDowell in Birmingham, Alabama … the Mountaineers finished with a team score of 302-301-298=901 for 37 over par … host UAB took first with a score of 851 for 13 under par, while North Florida was second with a score of 866 (+2) … Chris Williams led the team with a tie for 32nd place … Williams carded a pair of birdies in the final round, but five bogeys put him at seven over with a 79 … he finished with a score of 75-69-79=223 for seven over par … the field featured nine teams that played in the NCAA Regionals in 2014 and four that went to the NCAA National Championships.
Coach Sean Covich on the Shoal Creek Invitational: “I’m very proud of these guys. They did everything I asked of them to do this week. This is a great event against some of the best teams in the country on a difficult golf course. We will be a better team for having played in events like these. Now, we have a quick turnaround before N.C. State next week.”
This Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers have two weeks off from competition before heading to Madison, Wisconsin, to compete at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16.
Last Week in Cross Country: The No. 13 West Virginia University cross country team won the women’s 5k blue race at the Greater Louisville Classic at EP Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky, on Oct. 3, recording a team score of 32 … six runners recorded top-15 finishes.
Notes: Sophomores Maggie Drazba, Brynn Harshbarger and Amy Cashin all took home top-5 finishes … Harshbarger finished fourth overall (17:53.03), and Cashin finished fifth overall, recording a personal best of 17:57.21 … senior Kelly Williams was the fourth Mountaineer to cross the line, placing eighth overall (18:03.92), followed by senior Savanna Plombon, who took 13th overall with a season-best of 18:09.45 … Brianna Kerekes recorded a personal-best time of 18:10.84, while placing 14th overall … Rachel Faulds finished 38th overall (18:42.75), Allie Diehl finished 73rd overall (19:06.13) and Corinne Kule took 78th, recording a career-best time of 19:09.36 … sophomore Rebecca Wendt competed for the first time as a Mountaineer, placing 83rd overall with a personal-best time of 19:12.26.
This Week in Women’s Tennis: The Mountaineers are idle this week ... West Virginia returns to action as it travels to Blacksburg, Virginia, from Oct. 15-19, to compete in the ITA Regionals.
Last Week in Women’s Tennis: West Virginia traveled to Akron, Ohio, to compete in the Akron Invitational on Oct. 2-4 … the Mountaineers closed out the three-day event with a 17-10 combined singles and doubles record … WVU swept the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) in singles action on Saturday, Oct. 3, to tally a 6-0 singles record on the second day of the tournament … WVU also went three-for-three in doubles play for the first time this season, as it swept UMKC in doubles action on Sunday, Oct. 4 … sophomore Habiba Shaker cruised past Akron’s Ariadna Blinova in straight sets (6-1, 6-3), as she tallied her second perfect singles record (3-0) of the fall season … Shaker previously went three-for-three in singles action at the William & Mary Invitational on Sept. 18-20 … senior Hailey Barrett, and sophomores Carolina Lewis and Yvon Martinez recorded a 2-1 singles record at the Akron Invitational.
Notes: Sophomore Habiba Shaker has a team-best 8-0 singles record this fall season … sophomore Lyn Yuen Choo follows Shaker with a 7-2 singles record … senior Hailey Barrett and sophomore Yvon Martinez holds a team-best 4-2 doubles record this fall season.
This Week in Rowing: The Mountaineers are idle until Saturday, Oct. 31, as the team travels to Fairfax Station, Virginia, for the Head of the Occoquan … the Head of the Occoquan is the first regatta of the season for the novice squad.
Last Season in Rowing: The WVU rowing squad had a strong showing in its fall season opener at the Head of the Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 3 … the Mountaineers placed first and third in the Women’s Open 4+ event and second in the Women’s Open 8+ … to open the day, West Virginia finished second in the Women’s Open 8+, as it faced 12 boats to take a silver medal back home to Morgantown … WVU’s boat finished eight seconds behind Duquesne’s boat with a time of 12:58.53, nearly 23 seconds ahead of Pitt in third place … in the Women’s Open 4+ event, the Mountaineers earned a gold and bronze medal as both of their boats finished within just eight seconds of each other … WVU’s first boat crossed the finish line in 14:04.33, .53 seconds ahead of Duquesne to win the gold medal … WVU’s second boat finished in 14:12.24, just .48 seconds behind Duquesne’s crew.
Coach Jimmy King on the Head of the Ohio Regatta: “The main point of focus was to build on the good work that we had in the past week. We also wanted to race aggressively. I still believe that they could have been more aggressive, but none of the crews disappointed today.”
This Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers will officially open the season when they host the West Virginia State Games on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 9, at 11 a.m., at the WVU Natatorium.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: Senior Andrew Marsh and junior Nate Carr opened the 2015-16 season with WVU Natatorium records in the 100 free and 200 IM, as the West Virginia University swimming and diving teams opened the year with its annual Gold-Blue Intrasquad Meet on Saturday … the Gold team defeated the Blue squad in the 19-event intrasquad meet … the diving teams also participated in the 1-meter dive and 3-meter dive.
Notes: Marsh broke Tim Squires’ previous record of 44.92, setting a new pool record time 44.86 in the 100 free … Carr set a new pool record in the 200 IM by breaking his previous time of 1:50.42 with a new time of 1:50.28 …sophomore Logan McHenry placed first on the 1-meter dive, followed by Michael Proietto and Alex Obendorf … senior Lindsay Schmidt finished first on the women’s side in the 1-meter dive.
Coach Vic Riggs on the Gold-Blue intersquad meet: “I think there were some bright spots, and obviously the upperclassmen swam pretty well. A couple pool records are always a nice way to start the season.”
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team opens its 2015-16 season with two matches at Air Force’s Falcon Rifle Range in Colorado this weekend … WVU will line up against the No. 9 Falcons on Saturday, Oct. 10, and will open its Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) season against No. 6 Nebraska on Sunday, Oct. 11.
Last Season in Rifle: The Mountaineers won their third straight NCAA title with a 4702 showing at the 2015 NCAA Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska … the title was the team’s nation-best 17th … graduate Maren Prediger won the NCAA air rifle title with a 205.8 showing in the discipline final … she shot 598 in the open relay … returning seniors Michael Bamsey and Garrett Spurgeon finished second and third, respectively … WVU also won its sixth straight GARC title, shooting 4709 at the championship … Spurgeon won the air rifle title, shooting 594 in the relay and 207.1 in the final … WVU finished the year with an 11-1 record.
Notes: Four seniors return to lead the Mountaineers: Bamsey, Spurgeon, Meelis Kiisk and Patrick Sunderman … WVU will be joined by newcomers Will Anti and Ginny Thrasher … coach Jon Hammond returns for his 10th season with the squad … Anti’s father, Mike Anti, a four-time rifle All-American at WVU and a member of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, is an assistant coach for the Falcons … the Mountaineers shot 4700+ 10 times last season, including a season-high score of 4718 in a win over Memphis (4637) on Nov. 8, at the WVU Rifle Range … the squad set an air rifle school record with a 2386 showing at the GARC Championships on March 1, in Oxford, Mississippi.
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