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Volleyball Drops 3-2 Decision at IUPUI
September 05, 2015 09:35 PM | Volleyball
Morgan Montgomery registered a team-best 16 kills, tying her career high, and had her second-straight double-double with a career-high 16 digs. The sophomore outside hitter also added three aces, also tying a personal best. Bridgett Talia and Dzeni Hadzisehovic each had 13 kills, with Hadzisehovic hitting .440 and earning all-tournament team accolades.
Caleah Wells was just shy of 10 kills, hitting .278 with nine on the night, while Hannah Shreve hit .385 with six kills. Shreve also led the blocking effort with six blocks, while Montgomery added four. Gianna Gotterba had a team-high 22 digs and four aces, while Brittany Sample had eight to go along with a season-high 50 assists.
West Virginia hit .231 with 62 kills and eight team blocks in the loss, which drops the Mountaineers to 2-4 on the season.
“We got a lot of experience this weekend,” said coach Reed Sunahara. “A lot of people got playing time, and it’s good to see people coming off the bench and having an impact. I challenged Gianna earlier this week and I think she made some great strides in leading our floor defense.”
After a rocky start to the first set, the Mountaineers rattled off the final eight points to take the 25-20 win. WVU trailed 6-1 to start, with three attacking errors. A pair of Montgomery kills, along with several miscues by the Jags, tied the set 11-11. The Jags took a 17-13 lead on a kill, but Wells and Montgomery each put a pair through the pins to cut the deficit to two, down 19-17. A kill by Shreve started the final rally for the Mountaineers, with a pair of Talia kills and a pair of aces from Montgomery capping the stanza and giving WVU the win.
The Jaguars came out strong in set two, posting 7.0 blocks as West Virginia hit .000. Once again, IUPUI took a 7-2 lead on an attacking error by the Mountaineers. Despite four kills from Montgomery, WVU couldn’t rally. A kill from Wells started a 5-0 run that included an ace from Gotterba but it was too little, too late, and IUPUI scored four of the final five points, taking the 25-15 win as a WVU serve went long.
WVU again overcame early miscues to hit .324 in set three, but couldn’t overcome the slow start. The Jaguars again took a 7-2 lead, stretching the advantage to 16-8 on a block. Hadsizehovic had a block and a kill on a 3-0 run that cut the WVU deficit to five at 19-14, but the Jags stayed in front. Back-to-back kills by Montgomery helped bring the Mountaineers within one, down 23-22. The Jaguars came through with a pair of kills to take the set, 25-23, for a 2-1 lead in the match.
Talia and Hadzisehovic each had five kills to lead the Mountaineers in set four as they tied the match. Three straight IUPUI attacking errors helped WVU on a 7-0 run as the Mountaineers took a 6-2 lead. A kill by Wells was the start of 10 consecutive points by West Virginia, who took an 18-7 lead on consecutive aces by Gotterba. They never looked back, with back-to-back kills by Talia giving the Mountaineers the 25-16 win to force a fifth set.
The Mountaineers hit .148 in the final set, but kept it close early. Back-to-back service aces by the Jaguars helped them to a 4-0 run and a 12-7 lead. Hadzisehovic and Wells each added a late kill, but an IUPUI block sealed the deal as they took the set 15-11.
WVU heads out again next weekend, traveling to Hanover, New Hampshire to take part in the Dartmouth Tournament. The Mountaineers open the even on Friday with a 7 p.m. match against the host Big Green before taking on UConn on Saturday at 5 p.m.
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