Arslan Named Student-Athlete of the Week

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After scoring two goals to help upset No. 22 Akron on Saturday, junior midfielder Jad Arslan of the West Virginia University men’s soccer team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

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Arslan scored two goals, including the game winner, in WVU’s 3-1 upset victory at No. 22 Akron on Saturday night. Arslan’s goals came under eight minutes apart, in the 63rd and 71st minutes. It was his second career two-goal game and the game-winner was his second of the season.

Along with his team-high two goals against Akron, Arslan led the team with three shots, all on goal. He helped WVU upset a ranked foe for the second time this year and handed Akron its first conference loss since 2014. On the year, he leads WVU with four goals and nine points.

This Week in Women’s Soccer: The No. 1-ranked Mountaineers close their 2016 regular-season slate against Oklahoma State on Friday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … it’s “Senior Night,” and WVU will honor its four seniors – Carly Black, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and Ashley Woolpert – prior to first kick … Trunk or Treat will be held in the parking lot adjacent to the field from 5-7 p.m., and any youths who wear a costume to the match will be admitted for free … additionally, the first 150 WVU students in attendance will receive a free WVU bucket hat courtesy of Coca Cola.

Last Week in Women’s Soccer: WVU (15-1-1, 7-0) earned two wins in Texas and claimed its fifth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title … the Mountaineers opened the weekend with a 3-0 win at TCU on Oct. 21, and closed with a 1-0 victory at Texas on Oct. 23 … on Friday night, junior forward Michaela Abam tallied the game-winner in the 52nd minute, and junior midfielder Carla Portillo and sophomore forward Grace Cutler added insurance goals … on Sunday, Portillo broke scoreless play in the 79th minute to push WVU’s win streak to eight … freshman Rylee Foster made one save against the Horned Frogs, while junior Michelle Newhouse made a career-high six stops against the Longhorns.

Notes: WVU is the first team in conference history to win five straight outright regular-season crowns … Friday’s win was the program’s 300th victory, with all coming under 21-year coach Nikki Izzo-Brown … WVU shows 11 clean sheets on the season and has not allowed a goal in Big 12 play … the defense has not allowed a goal since a Richmond penalty kick on Sept. 23 for 664:53 straight shut-out minutes … WVU is now 20-0-2 in Big 12 play since 2014, marking the longest unbeaten streak in conference history … Abam shows 28 career goals and is tied with assistant coach Marisa Kanela for 10th place on the program’s all-time career goals list … Portillo’s game-winner on Sunday was her second of the season, her fourth goal of the year and seventh career score.

This Week in Men’s Soccer: West Virginia (7-5-1, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) is back on the road at Penn in Philadelphia, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. ET … WVU continues MAC play on Saturday at Western Michigan, at 1 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Men’s Soccer: West Virginia (7-5-1, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) is coming off a 3-1 upset victory at No. 22 Akron on Saturday night ... junior midfielder Joey Piatczyc scored just 39 seconds into the match to set the tone and junior midfielder Jad Arslan tallied two second-half goals in under eight minutes to seal the win ... Arslan scored the eventual game-winner in the 63rd minute before adding an insurance goal in the 71st minute... junior goalkeeper Jose Santos made several big saves to contribute to the victory and finished with five saves on the night.

Notes: WVU handed the Zips their first conference loss since 2014 … the Mountaineers improved to 2-2 against ranked teams and posted their second upset win of the season in Akron, Ohio, after WVU opened the season with a 1-0 upset win against No. 7 Georgetown.

Coach Marlon LeBlanc after WVU’s win at No. 22 Akron: “The players were excellent on the evening. The guys fought valiantly, they fought hard, and I’m awfully proud of my team. Akron’s a great team, but I thought that we had a great gameplan and the players executed. You go on the road and score 30 seconds into the game, you have to feel pretty good. As a coach, you’re still hoping your players don’t change the approach, and they didn’t. We were stout, did what we needed to do and got the goal. At the end of the day, it’s a good win against a very good team, but we have three more games to play.”

This Week in Volleyball: West Virginia will host Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 29 … first serve is set for 3:30 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum … it will be the second meeting of the season for the two teams… the Mountaineers claimed a 3-0 win over the Red Raiders back in September.

Last Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers (11-12, 2-7) traveled to Kansas for a pair of Big 12 matches … the team squared off with No. 6 Kansas in Lawrence on Thursday, falling 3-0 to the Jayhawks … Payton Caffrey had a team-high 16 kills while Gianna Gotterba led the floor defense with 15 digs … Hannah Shreve had five blocks in the contest … on Saturday, WVU dropped a hard-fought battle to Kansas State, 3-2, in Manhattan … Caffrey had a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs … Erin Slinde had 27 assists and Mia Swanegan had 13 blocks in the match.

Notes: Payton Caffrey set a WVU freshman record on Thursday … her 15th kill of the match put her at 401 kills on the season, pushing her past the old rookie mark of 400 … Caffrey has moved into seventh place on WVU’s single season kills’ top-10 list with 416 kills this season … Mia Swanegan led the league in blocking with 1.75 blocks per set this weekend … she posted a career high of 13 blocks on Saturday at Kansas State … her 13 stops against the Wildcats is the second most by a Big 12 player this season … Erin Slinde also had a career night against the Wildcats … Slinde posted a career-best 27 assists and also had a career-high 10 blocks … she finished the week tied for third in the league with 1.38 blocks per set and was eighth with 5.88 assists per set … Caffrey ranked third in kills (3.75 per set) and points (4.12 per set) … Saturday marked the sixth time this season WVU has gone to five sets.

Coach Reed Sunahara after falling to Kansas State: “I thought we battled hard, and we never gave up. We made some mistakes down the stretch, at inopportune times. It hurts to come up short, but it’s a process. We’re getting better.”

This Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers travel to Lubbock, Texas, for the second time this season to compete at the 2016 Big 12 Championship on Oct. 29, hosted by Texas Tech.

Last Week in Cross Country: WVU did not compete last weekend.

Notes: The first time West Virginia competed in Lubbock this season, the team won the Texas Tech Open on Sept. 8 ... at last year’s Big 12 Championship hosted by Oklahoma State, WVU placed third with a team score of 118 points ... three WVU sophomores posted top-25 finishes in the women’s 6k race ... Maggie Drazba crossed the line first for the Mountaineers and 19th overall with a time of 21:32.5 ... Millie Paladino came in second for WVU and 21st overall, finishing in 21:34.3, followed by sophomore Brynn Harshbarger in 22nd (21:40.4) ... the Mountaineers rank No. 4 in the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings and are receiving 29 votes in the national rankings.

This Week in Golf: WVU wraps up fall competition at the Quail Valley Intercollegiate in Vero Beach, Florida, on Monday and Tuesday … the event will be hosted McNeese State at the Quail Valley Golf and River Club … teams will tee off at 8:30 a.m. in a shotgun start at the par-72, 7,350-yard course … golfers will play 36 continuous holes on Monday before returning to the links for the final 18 holes on Tuesday… the Mountaineers are paired with Notre Dame and Memphis for the first two rounds … Alan Cooke, Etienne Papineau, Tristan Nicholls, Chris Williams and Max Sear will compete for WVU … thirteen of the 14 programs in attendance, including the No. 96 Mountaineers and host No. 87 Cowboys, rank inside Golfstat’s Top 100…. No. 30 Kansas, No. 22 Liberty, No. 38 Arkansas, No. 54 North Texas, No. 61 Middle Tennessee, No. 51 Jacksonville, No. 57 Ohio State, No. 75 Mississippi State, No. 37 North Florida, No. 77 Indiana and No. 93 Notre Dame are also in the field and will be joined by No. 129 Memphis.

Last Week in Golf: The Mountaineers did not compete.

Notes: It marks the third time this season head coach Sean Covich has used that starting lineup... Cooke and Papineau are each coming off a top-20 finish at the Mountaineer Intercollegiate at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport on Oct. 11-12 … Cooke posted back-to-back rounds under par in tying for ninth place, while Papineau tied for 15th to post his second consecutive top-20 finish … Cooke leads the team with a 71.71 stroke average, followed by Papineau (72.13) and Sear (72.25) ... Sear has played in a trio of tournaments this season with a 72.25 scoring average ... he boasts a pair of top-20 finishes this season, including a season-best seventh-place finish at the VCU Janney Shootout … Nicholls is playing in his third tournament as a member of the scoring squad and his fourth even overall ... he finished tied for 29th as an individual at the Mountaineer Intercollegiate and carries a 74.13 stroke average. Williams will play in his third event, bringing a scoring average of 76.16.

This Week in Swimming and Diving: WVU has a month off of competition before traveling to the three-day NC State Invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Nov. 17-19.

Last Week in Swimming and Diving: Racing for the third consecutive weekend to open the season, the Mountaineers faced off against Virginia Tech, Duke and William & Mary at Christiansburg Aquatic Center from Oct. 21-22 ... the WVU women were edged by William & Mary (176-164), Duke (281-71) and Virginia Tech (286-66) ... the men fell to William & Mary (223-123), Duke (288-64) and Virginia Tech (277-69).

Notes: On the first day of competition at VT, the Mountaineers posted three top-five finishes and 13 top-10 finishes ... senior Emma Skelley placed third in the women’s 500 freestyle, touching the wall in 4:56.21 ... sophomore Merwane El Merini placed fourth in the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 46.00 ... in the women’s 400 medley relay, a team of junior Amelie Currat, sophomore Emma Harris, freshmen Julia Miranda and Morgan Bullock touched the wall in 3:51.52 ... on Saturday, WVU earned seven top-six individual finishes, while Skelley, El Merini and sophomore Emma Harris all finished in the top four ... Skelley placed fourth in the women’s 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:07.16 ... El Merini touched the wall in third place in the men’s 50 freestyle with a time of 20.64 ... Harris took a third-place finish in the women’s 200 breaststroke, touching the wall in 2:20.83.

Coach Vic Riggs after competing in a quad meet at Virginia Tech: “We had a very solid day today. I thought both the men’s and women’s teams’ relays continued to get better, and we improved on some of our little things that we discussed last night. With this being our third weekend in a row of racing, the teams fought hard. On the women’s side I’m really proud of their effort today. Being the third meet that we haven’t had a full squad because injuries, for the ladies to battle back to have it come down to the last relay shows their fight. Now we have four weeks to get ready for NC State.”

This Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers do not shoot this week.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU (4-0, 2-0 GARC) earned two road wins over the weekend, defeating Akron, 4724-4627, on Oct. 22, and No. 7 Ohio State, 4721-4670, on Oct. 23 … the Mountaineers swept the team discipline wins, shooting 22378 air rifle and 2346 smallbore on Saturday, and 2341 smallbore and a season-high 2380 air rifle Sunday … sophomore Ginny Thrasher led the way both days, sweeping all four individual victories … the Springfield, Virginia, native, shot a career-high 599 air rifle on Saturday and Sunday … she also shot 593 in smallbore against the Zips and followed that with a 590 mark against the Buckeyes.

Notes: Thrasher shot a program-record 200 prone both days … junior Elizabeth Gratz shot a career-high 597 air rifle Saturday and finished second … sophomore Will Anti shot a season-best 591 air rifle against Akron … senior Jean-Pierre Lucas finished second in smallbore against the Zips with a season-high 588, while Anti shot a program-record 200 prone … Lucas and freshman Morgan Phillips tied for second in smallbore Sunday with matching 585s … freshman Jack Anderson notched a career-high 569 smallbore vs. OSU … Babic matched her career-best air rifle score of 596 on Sunday and finished second … Phillips finished fifth with a career-high 593.

This Week Rowing: The novice squad will begin the fall season on Nov. 5, at the Head of the Occoquan in Fairfax Station, Virginia … the novice and varsity teams will compete against Duquesne in Morgantown on Nov. 11.

Last week in Rowing: The team did not compete last week.

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