MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Coming off a 3-0 sweep of Robert Morris, the West Virginia University volleyball team will host Baylor in Big 12 action on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum. First serve is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET.
The Mountaineers (11-9, 2-4) will look to stop a three-match Big 12 losing streak after dropping back-to-back matches to Oklahoma at home last weekend. The Bears (15-6, 3-2), who have received votes in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll, dropped a 3-1 match to No. 4 Texas on Wednesday.
“Baylor is a tough team,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. “They won 10 in a row earlier this year and have been getting some votes in the AVCA Poll. We’ll need to play our best in all aspects of our game on Saturday.”
The first 500 fans in attendance for Saturday’s match will receive a free WVU water bottle courtesy of Coca-Cola, while members of the Mountaineer Kids’ Club can pick up their t-shirts at the match. The Mountaineers will also offer a free post-match youth clinic for players in eighth grade and under. Participants can register for the clinic at the Blue Gate from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Admission for all WVU volleyball home matches is free for the 2016 season.
The sweep of the Colonials marked the end of nonconference play for the Mountaineers, who compiled a 9-5 record outside of league play in 2016. It was also WVU’s seventh 3-0 win of the season. The Mountaineers have recorded sweeps against Georgia Southern, Grand Canyon, Dartmouth, Winthrop, Akron, Texas Tech and Robert Morris this season. They’ve not had seven sweeps since 2014, when WVU recorded 10 on the season.
Senior Hannah Shreve is a block assist shy of entering the program records books. The middle blocker from Charleston, West Virginia, has a total of 241 career block assists. Should she reach 242, she would move into a tie with Brooke Hudson and Lisa Hough for 10th place all-time. Jen McCuen owns the program record for block assists with 417 from 1988-92.
Following Wednesday’s win at Robert Morris, Payton Caffrey has moved into a tie for fourth place on the school’s top list for kills by a freshman. Caffrey boasts a total of 369 on the season with 10 matches remaining, and is tied for Nikki Hardy (1997). The program’s single-season record for kills by a freshman is 400, set in 1996 by Megan Porter.
Caffrey was honored for the fourth time by the Big 12 earlier this week, as she was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday, Oct. 10. Caffrey led the Mountaineers with 4.29 kills per set and 4.64 points per set against Oklahoma. The freshman outside hitter from Chuluota, Florida, is the first WVU player to earn four or more weekly Big 12 honors in a season and is just the ninth player since 2008 to earn the rookie of the week accolade for our more times.
