MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Unable to match the hot-hitting Longhorns, the West Virginia volleyball team suffered a 3-0 setback to No. 2 Texas in its first Big 12 match of the season on Friday at the WVU Coliseum, falling in set scores of 16-25, 17-25 and 16-25.

 

“Playing against the No. 2 team in the country to open the (Big 12) season tells us where we are and what we need to work on,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. It was good to play Texas. As a coach you always thing you can prepare them more. The question is did we compare our team well enough to compete tonight or are we doing the right things? I think we are. I think we’re getting better. I saw some good things happen tonight. We’re just not consistent enough.”

 

The Mountaineers (5-8, 0-1_ hit for a .088 clip, posting 32 kills and 23 errors. The Longhorns (12-1, 2-0) boasted a .338 attacking percentage with 35 kills and just nine errors, as well as 6.5 team blocks to WVU’s 5.0.

 

Morgan Montgomery led the Mountaineers with 12 kills. Freshman Bridgett Talia added seven, hitting .222 in the process. Brittany Sample had a team-best 10 digs and assisted on 23 of WVU’s kills for her third double-double of the season.

 

Hannah Shreve, Caleah Wells and Mia Swanegan each had a block solo and a block assist. Swanegan added five kills and a pair of digs, while Shreve hit .222 with four kills. Shreve and Gianna Gotterba each registered an ace for the Mountaineers.

 

West Virginia struggled to maintain any offensive momentum in the first set, hitting .053 with 10 kills. A pair of Montgomery kills gave West Virginia at 3-1 lead to start, but the Longhorns rattled off six in a row for a 7-3 lead. A 4-0 Texas run later in the set put the Longhorns in front, 18-9, before back-to-back Montgomery kills ended the run. A block put Texas at set-point, 24-16, before the No. 2 Longhorns had a service ace for the 25-16 win. Texas finished set the hitting for a .385 clip.

 

Back-to-back service aces put Texas up 4-1 early in the second set, though Talia and Swanegan each found the court to keep the Mountaineers in it as they hit .273 as a team. Kills from Montgomery and Swanegan brought WVU within one, as the trailed 9-8, but the Longhorns capitalized on for Mountaineer miscues in taking a 15-10 lead. Montgomery and Talia continued to carry the offense through the stanza, as WVU hit for a .273 clip with 14 kills to Texas’ 11. However, the Longhorns reached set-point on a pair of WVU errors and claimed the 25-17 triumph on a service ace to lead the match, 2-0.

 

The Mountaineers stumbled offensively in set three, hitting -.065 with 10 errors as the Longhorns hit .231 in earning the win. Errors on both team kept the close, with a Texas attacking error knotting the score 6-6. Mountaineer attacking errors helped a 7-0 Texas run as the Longhorns took a 13-6 lead. Montgomery added a kill and Shreve and Swanegan teamed for a block as West Virginia trailed 18-10. Wells and Montgomery added late kills, but it was too little, too late as the No. 2 Longhorns took the 25-16 win on a kill for the 3-0 sweep.