MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following her performances in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge, senior guard Bria Holmes has been named the West Virginia University Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
Holmes paced the Mountaineers with 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals in three games last week.
Holmes netted a season-high 27 points, while grabbing eight rebounds and handing out five assists in WVU’s overtime setback to USC. Holmes connected on 12-of-18 from the field for 66.7 percent shooting.
Against Grand Canyon, the guard scored a team-best 14 points and grabbed four rebounds. She moved into a tie with Jenny Hillen for 10th all-time in scoring at West Virginia with 1,504 points.
Holmes would take sole possession of 10th (1,522) with her 18 points and five rebounds versus Yale.
Holmes was named the Most Valuable Player for the WVU-Yale game in the finale of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge played in Uncasville, Connecticut.
In six games this season, Holmes paces West Virginia with 18.3 points per game.
This Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia returns home to the WVU Coliseum after a four-game road swing … the Mountaineers welcome Morehead State on Wednesday, Dec. 2 in a 7 p.m. tilt … on Sunday, Dec. 6, the Mountaineers will host Fairleigh Dickinson in a 4 p.m. contest … Sunday also is the Salvation Army Toy Drive and Carey’s Crew Appreciation Day … more details will be announced on WVUsports.com later this week.
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: The Mountaineers (4-2) concluded play in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge … the Mountaineers fell 78-67 to USC in overtime, on Nov. 23, before bouncing back with a 68-50 win over Grand Canyon, on Nov. 24, to close out play in Spokane, Washington … WVU then finished off the four-game event with a 70-60 win over Yale on Nov. 29.
Notes: Bria Holmes scored a season-high 27 points in WVU’s win over USC … Holmes went 12-of-18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds in the setback … Holmes paced WVU with 14 points, while Katrina Pardee added 10 in the Mountaineers’ triumph over Grand Canyon … the victory over the Lopes also gave coach Mike Carey his 300th career win at West Virginia … Teana Muldrow paced the Mountaineers with a season-high 20 points and seven rebounds …. Holmes netted 18 points and moved to No. 10 on WVU’s all-time scoring chart with 1,522 points … Holmes is now 13 points way from surpassing Olivia Bradley (1,534) for No. 9 all-time … Sunday’s victory also moved coach Mike Carey into a tie with Kittie Blakemore as WVU’s all-time wins leader … Carey can set the record with a win on Wednesday.
Coach Mike Carey after Sunday’s win over Yale: “I liked the way we closed out the game, but we still need to work on rebounding. I am proud of the way we finished.”
This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia travels to the 34th Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 4-5 at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Nevada … it will mark the Mountaineers’ second consecutive open tournament … other teams slated to compete are fellow Big 12 members Air Force, Iowa State, North Dakota State, Oklahoma and Utah Valley as well as rival Arizona State … reigning national champion Ohio State (currently ranked No. 3) as well as No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Michigan, No. 9 Missouri, No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 19 Virginia are all slated to compete as well.
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers did not complete last week.
Notes: The Mountaineers dropped to No. 24 in the NWCA.USA Today Coaches Poll … 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: The Mountaineers have concluded the 2015 season.
Last Week in Volleyball: WVU finished the season with a three-match road trip through Oklahoma and Texas … the Mountaineers dropped back-to-back 3-0 matches to Oklahoma in Norman on Tuesday and Wednesday … sophomore outside hitter Morgan Montgomery totaled 23 kills in the two matches to lead the way … West Virginia fell 3-0 to TCU on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, to close the season … Montgomery and sophomore middle blocker Mia Swanegan led the squad with 11 and 10 kills, respectively … the duo also posted four blocks, with Montgomery notching a block assist and Swanegan going for a block solo and a pair of block assists … playing in the final match of her career, senior middle blocker Caleah Wells went for five kills and a pair of block assists.
Notes: Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Montgomery finishes the season ranked third in the Big 12 with 3.74 kills per set … senior setter Brittany Sample ranks No. 6 with 9.42 assists per set despite missing two months with an injury … sophomore libero Gianna Gotterba ends the year ranked sixth in digs per set at 3.56 … Montgomery also ranks in the top 10 in points, finishing third with 4.14 per set.
This Week in Women’s Soccer: The Mountaineers have concluded the 2015 season.
Last Week in Women’s Soccer: No. 4-ranked and second-seeded WVU ended its record-setting 2015 season with a 2-0 loss at No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Penn State on Nov. 28, at Jeffrey Field, in University Park, Pennsylvania … the Nittany Lions jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the 12th minute, and added an insurance goal in the 39th minute … senior Hannah Steadman finished with five saves … PSU earned a 14-10 shot advantage, and goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom made three saves … each team earned four corner kicks.
Notes: WVU finished its season with a 19-3-1 record, making the 2015 Mountaineers the winningest team in the program’s 20-year history … the squad also set the program season records for shutouts (15), goals (61) and opponent goals (11) … Saturday’s Elite Eight appearance was the team’s second in the program’s 20-year history and first since 2007 … Saturday marked the final contest for six Mountaineer seniors: Steadman, Kailey Utley, Maggie Bedillion, Leah Emaus, Amanda Hill and Kelsie Maloney … the group won six conference titles and compiled a four-year record of 52-14-12 … all but Bedillion and Steadman played in 80-plus career matches … Hill started all 88 career matches at defensive center midfield and ranks No. 3 on the all-time career starts list … Steadman graduates ranked No. 1 on the Mountaineer career goals-against average chart (0.59) and No. 5 on the career shutouts list (23).
This Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers travel to the USA Swimming Winter Nationals, in Federal Way, Washington, from Dec. 2-5 … Nate Carr, Jaimee Gillmore, Ross Glegg, Jay Hickey, James Koval, Andrew Marsh and Max Spencer will swim at the event.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: WVU is coming off a week off after competing at the three-day, four team Tennessee Invitational on Nov. 20-22 … 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.
Notes: For the second time this season, senior Andrew Marsh was named the Big 12 Men’s Swimmer-of the-Week by CollegeSwimming.com … Marsh’s honor is the fourth CollegeSwimming.com accolade of the season for the Mountaineers, as he was also recognized on Oct. 28 and senior Jaimee Gillmore and junior Nate Carr were honored on Oct. 21 … Marsh was also named the Big 12 Men’s Swimmer of the Week by the conference on Nov. 5.
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked Mountaineers will compete at the 2015 USA Shooting Winter Air Gun Championship/Air Gun Olympic Trials from Dec. 3-6, at the Olympic Training Center, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Last Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers were idle last week.
Notes: The Mountaineers set a season-high 2378 air rifle score vs. Ohio State at the WVU Rifle Range (Nov. 21) … the Mountaineers set a season-high 2367 smallbore score vs. Murray State inside the Louis and Freda Stile Athletics Field House (Nov. 7) … West Virginia holds a 2365.6 air rifle average and a 2340.4 smallbore average this season … senior Garrett Spurgeon paces WVU with a 584.6 smallbore season average, while senior Patrick Sunderman boasts a 593.1 air rifle average.
This Week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers open the 2015-16 indoor season with the WVU Inter-Squad meet on Friday, Dec. 4, at the WVU Shell Building, in Morgantown … the regular season begins when the team travels to University Park, Pennsylvania, to compete at the Nittany Lion Challenge on Jan. 16.
Last Season in Track and Field: At the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, recent graduate Kaitlyn Gillespie represented WVU by competing in the 10,000-meter run … Gillespie placed ninth overall with a time of 33:44.08 for a new personal best and recorded the second-fastest time in program history … her finish earned her second team All-America honors … Gillespie also won the 10,000 meter title (33:45.56) at the 2015 Big 12 Outdoor Championship … aside from the athletic standpoint, three Mountaineers were named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-American Team; Kelly Williams, Kaitlyn Gillespie and Jillian Forsey … Williams was named to the first team, while Forsey and Gillespie earned second team honors.
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 nine singles wins, followed by senior Hailey Barrett and sophomore Lyn Yuen Choo with eight and seven victories this season, respectively … 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.
