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Utley Named Student-Athlete of the Week
November 23, 2015 03:45 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following a second half, three-goal onslaught in the No. 4-ranked women’s soccer team’s 5-2 victory over Loyola Marymount on Nov. 22, senior forward Kailey Utley has been named the West Virginia University Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
Denied a first-half shot, the St. Louis native connected on all three of her second-half chances, including the game-winner in the 54th minute to break a 2-2 tie with the Lions and punch the Mountaineers’ ticket to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Utley added insurance goals in the 57th and 81st minutes for her first career three-goal performance.
The Mountaineers advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in program history and first since 2007, and will face No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Penn State on Saturday, Nov. 28, at 4 p.m., at Jeffrey Field, in University Park, Pennsylvania.
This Week in Women’s Soccer: The No. 4-ranked and second-seeded West Virginia University women’s soccer team travels to University Park, Pennsylvania, for an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight contest at No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Penn State on Saturday, Nov. 28, at 4 p.m., at Jeffrey Field.
Last Week in Women’s Soccer: The Mountaineers (19-2-1, 6-0-1) became the winningest team in program history with a pair of NCAA Tournament victories at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … WVU easily dispatched of Northwestern, 4-0, on Friday, Nov. 20, in the second round, and overcame a pair of first-half goals from Loyola Marymount in the third round to defeat the Lions, 5-2, on Nov. 22 … six Mountaineers tallied the team’s nine goals this weekend, with seniors Amanda Hill scoring the game-winner against the Wildcats in the 15th minute, and Kailey Utley burying the game-winner against the Lions in the 54th minute …sophomore Michaela Abam and seniors Leah Emaus and Kelsie Maloney also scored first-half goals against NU … Utley was simply fantastic against LMU, connecting on all three of her second-half shots despite being denied a shot in the first half … she also scored in the 57th and 81st minutes … Abam and sophomore Heather Kaleiohi had first-half goals … the Mountaineer defense held NU to just three shots, with only one landing on goal … it was a different story against the Lions, as LMU outshot WVU, 9-7, in the first half and forced senior Hannah Steadman to make a then-career high six saves in the first 45 minutes … the backline buckled down in the second half and held LMU to five shots, with only three landing on-frame, and no goals … Steadman finished with a career-best nine saves.
Notes: The Mountaineers advance to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2007 and the second time in school history … Sunday’s win was the team’s 100th victory in program history at DDSS … the squad’s 19 wins on the season are a program single-season best … the squad also set the season shutout (15) and goal records (56) in Friday’s win against the Wildcats … Utley’s three goals were a career single-game best … the squad’s five goals vs. the Lions are a program NCAA Tournament best … the Mountaineers have outscored their tournament opponents 13-2 … WVU earned a 1-0 victory over the Nittany Lions on Sept. 4, in Morgantown … WVU seeks its first berth in the NCAA College Cup on Saturday, at Penn State.
This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia is off this week … WVU will travel to Las Vegas on Dec. 4-5 for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Open.
Last Week in Wrestling: The No. 23 Mountaineers traveled to head coach Sammie Henson’s hometown of St. Charles, Missouri, to compete in the Joe Parisi Open at Lindenwood University … Bubba Scheffel went 3-0 to claim the title at 184 pounds with a pin in the finals … No. 5 Zeke Moisey, No. 17 Dylan Cottrell and No. 8 Jacob A. Smith finished in the runner-up spots at 125, 157 and 197 pounds, respectively … Moisey moved to 9-2 on the season, while Cottrell suffered his first loss of the year, going 4-1 at the event to move to 10-1 on the year … Smith registered a pair of pins to total three on the season with a 9-2 overall mark.
Notes: Dylan Cottrell’s 10-1 mark at 157 leads the Mountaineers … Cottrell also leads WVU in dual-match points (69), team points (25) and takedowns (23) … Jacob A. Smith has a team-best three pins at 197 … Cottrell (157) and Parker VonEgidy (174) are tied with four major decisions each.
This Week in Volleyball: West Virginia will close the season on the road, playing three matches in four days … the Mountaineers (5-21, 0-13) will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Sooners (10-15, 4-9) in back-to-back matches on Nov. 24 and 25 … both contests will start at 8 p.m. ET … Tuesday’s match was originally scheduled for Oct. 24, in Morgantown, but was postponed due to travel issues for the Sooners … WVU caps the season on Friday, Nov. 27, with a 3 p.m. ET match against TCU (18-9, 8-7) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Last Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers wrapped up their home slate by hosting No. 9 Kansas, on Saturday, at the WVU Coliseum … WVU fell to the Jayhawks, 3-0, in the match … Morgan Montgomery had a team-best 12 kills … Haley Roe had 29 assists and three blocks … Gianna Gotterba had 15 digs in the loss … prior to the match, WVU honored senior setter Brittany Sample and senior middle blocker Caleah Wells.
Notes: Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Montgomery ranks third in the Big 12 with 3.74 kills per set … Gianna Gotterba is sixth with 3.62 digs per set … Both Brittany Sample (assists, assist per set) and Caleah Wells (block assists) will finish their careers ranked in the all-time top 10.
Coach Reed Sunahara after the loss against Kansas: “Kansas is a very good team. They’ll have a good run in the NCAA tournament. We had some positive moments, but we couldn’t string enough of them together. It’s tough to beat a team this solid when you lack consistency. It’s something that we continue to work on all season.”
This Week in Cross Country: The West Virginia cross country team has completed the 2015 season.
Last Week in Cross Country: Sophomore Millie Paladino represented the West Virginia University cross country team at the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Nov. 21, finishing in 77th place overall at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, in Louisville, Kentucky … in the first split (2000m) of the race, Paladino trailed around the 118th group … she then quickly moved toward the front, pushing ahead of 41 competitors to place 77th overall with an impressive 6k time of 20:41.6
Notes: The 2015 season saw the Mountaineers finish third at the Big 12 Championship and fifth at the Mid-Atlantic Region … sophomore Millie Paladino qualified for her second consecutive NCAA Championship … in 2014, Paladino appeared in her first NCAA Cross Country Championship as a freshman, where she finished 210th overall, crossing the finish line in 22:01.3.
Coach Sean Cleary after the NCAA Championship: “Millie saved her very best race for the right moment. The team was very happy to know that West Virginia was represented at the national meet. While disappointed that we were not chosen as an at-large team, we will dedicate ourselves to not feeling as we did today come next fall.”
WVU sophomore Millie Paladino after the NCAA Championship: “I thought today went well. It’s war in that race, so you have to keep your head on straight and stay focused the whole time. I was happy with today, but I want to keep improving, and I want to be at the meet next year with the team.”
This Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia (2-1) continues action in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge on Monday against USC (3-0) … tipoff is set for 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington … WVU will close the three-day tournament in Washington against Grand Canyon on Tuesday (11 p.m. ET) … the Mountaineers take on Yale in a 4 p.m. contest on Sunday, Nov. 29, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, to close out the Hall of Fame Challenge.
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia picked up a 96-64 win over Coppin State on Nov. 16 … Bria Holmes paced WVU with 23 points against the Lady Eagles to move to No. 14 on the program’s all-time scoring chart … Teana Muldrow added 17 points and eight rebounds in the victory … the Mountaineers fell 62-57 to Gonzaga in the opening game of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge on Sunday in Spokane, Washington … the Mountaineers overcame a 19-point deficit and took a four-point edge in the fourth quarter … however, Gonzaga was able to close out the game with a layup with just over a minute remaining … Holmes paced WVU with 19 points, scoring all of those in the second half.
Notes: West Virginia’s 63-points in the first half against Coppin State set a Coliseum record, surpassing the previous record of 62 against Duquesne in 1991 … Bria Holmes connected on 8-of-9 for 88.9 percent against Coppin State for a career-high … Teana Muldrow’s 6-of-7 field goals also set a career-high with 85.7 percent shooting in the contest vs. CSU … Lanay Montgomery has blocked four or more shots in the past three games … coach Mike Carey is one win away from reaching his 300th career victory and three away from becoming the program’s all-time wins leader, surpassing Kittie Blakemore’s 301 wins … Holmes leads the team with 17.0 points, followed by Teana Muldrow’s 12.0 points … Montgomery leads WVU with 8.3 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per contest … West Virginia has never faced USC, Grand Canyon or Yale.
Coach Carey after Sunday’s loss to Gonzaga: “The outcome is disappointing after we displayed great effort and fought back in the third quarter. We still have a lot of work to do and must get ready for a good USC program tomorrow.”
This Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers travel to the USA Swimming Winter Nationals, in Federal Way, Washington, from Dec. 2-5, while the divers compete at the USA Diving Winter Nationals from Dec. 15-20 in Indianapolis in the final competition before the New Year.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: WVU competed at the three-day, four team Tennessee Invitational last weekend … the Mountaineers finished fourth, with 520.5 men’s points and 382 women’s points … senior Andrew Marsh qualified for the A final in four events and won the 100 backstroke … he placed second in the 100 butterfly, third in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 50 freestyle … additionally, junior Nate Carr advanced to the A final in two events, finishing third in the 400 individual medley and fourth in the 200 individual medley … senior Lindsay Schmidt led the WVU divers with a third-place finish on 3-meter … senior Max Spencer rounded out WVU’s top-five individual finishes when he qualified for the A final on the final day of competition and placed fifth in the 200 breaststroke.
Coach Vic Riggs on the Tennessee Invitational: “Overall we had a very strong meet with many swims close to where we were at last year’s Big 12 Championship. The teams have done a great job this fall, and now it’s time to build on this for the next phase of our season.”
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked Mountaineers begin spring-semester competition with a match against nonconference opponent Alaska-Fairbanks on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at the WVU Rifle Range.
Last Week in Rifle: West Virginia (7-0, 4-0 GARC) ended the fall semester undefeated, as the team tallied its seventh consecutive victory with a 4711-4684 win over No. 8 Ohio State, at the WVU Rifle Range, on Nov. 21 … the Mountaineers won both disciplines, outshooting the Buckeyes in smallbore, 2333-2325, and air rifle, 2378-2359.
Notes: In smallbore, seniors Michael Bamsey and Garrett Spurgeon, as well as sophomore Elizabeth Gratz, matched a program record, shooting 200 prone … the mark was last shot by Thomas Kyanko vs. Akron, at the WVU Rifle Range, on Feb. 21, 2015 … Gratz matched her career-high 585 (195 kneeling, 200 prone, 190 standing) score that was last shot against Mississippi, on Nov. 1, and placed first overall … Gratz (585), Bamsey (583), Spurgeon (583), senior Meelis Kiisk (582) and freshman Ginny Thrasher (576) completed the Mountaineer counting squad … in air rifle, the team shot a season-high score of 2378 … senior Patrick Sunderman shot a career-high 597 (98-100-100-100-100-99) and placed first overall … Gratz had a strong performance on the day, as she also recorded a season-high 594 (99-99-99-98-100-99) mark in air rifle, one mark short of her career-high … Gratz set a career-high aggregate score of 1179, one shot higher than her previous mark this season … Spurgeon (587), Sunderman (597), Gratz (594), Thrasher (594) and Kiisk (593) contributed to the air rifle victory … the win pushed the team’s undefeated record against the Buckeyes to 41-0.
This Week in Women’s Tennis: West Virginia resumes play in January for the dual meet portion of the season … the Mountaineers will kick off the spring season when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 10 a.m.
Last Week in Women’s Tennis: West Virginia was idle last week.
Notes: This fall, the Mountaineers competed in five tournaments … sophomore Habiba Shaker leads the team with 10 singles wins, followed by senior Hailey Barrett and sophomore Lyn Yuen Choo with eight victories this season … the doubles tandems of Barrett and Martinez, and Lewis and Choo are also tied for a team-best 4-3 doubles record this fall.
Coach Miha Lisac on the conclusion of the fall season: “We are working on the right things going into the spring season. Each and every player has improved, and we also improved as a team. We are not far off, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, there is more work to be done, but we can see that we are capable of playing well and can capitalize on points when given the opportunity.”
This Week in Rowing: The West Virginia University rowing team is idle until the start of its spring season.
Last Week in Rowing: The Mountaineers were idle last week.
Notes: The rowing novice team swept Duquesne, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon to conclude the fall season on Saturday, Nov. 7, on the Allegheny River … the novice 8 ‘A’ boat raced to a first-place finish with a time of 11:11.86, five seconds ahead of Pitt … the Novice 8 ‘B’ boat also won, finishing in front of Pitt with a time of 10:37.8 on a course approximately 200 meters shorter than the first novice 8 competition … in the last two races of the day, West Virginia finished first with a time of 11:40.8 in the Novice 4 ‘A’ race, followed by another first-place finish in the Novice 4 ‘B’ race … the Head of the Occoquan on Saturday, Oct. 31, was the first regatta of the season for the novice team … eight of the Mountaineers’ 10 boats posted top-10 finishes on the Occoquan Reservoir … WVU’s four medals came with first-and second-place finishes in the Women’s Collegiate Novice 4+, a bronze-medal finish in the Women’s Collegiate Novice 8 and a fifth-place finish in the Women’s Championship 4+ … the WVU rowing team also 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+ 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.
This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers will take a winter hiatus and return to the course on Feb. 15, when they travel to Houston, Texas, for the President’s Day Challenge … the event will be hosted by Rice.
Last Week in Golf: WVU was idle last week.
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Tuesday, May 19
NCAA Selection Show
Wednesday, May 13
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Tuesday, May 12
Kansas Recap
Tuesday, May 12
