WVU Falls in Five to No. 4 Kansas

Wednesday, November 16

Morgantown, W.Va.

6:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

12-16, 3-11

Kansas

24-2, 13-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Kansas	25	18	25	20	15	3
West Virginia	18	25	18	25	8	2

Cross-Main-111616.jpg

November 16, 2016 09:43 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

4 Kansas Jayhawks

24-2, 13-1

Final

West Virginia Mountaineers

12-16, 3-11

Final Stats

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four Mountaineers finished with double-digit kills as the West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a hard-fought, five-set match to No. 4-ranked Kansas by a score of 3-2 at the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday. The Mountaineers (12-16, 3-11) fell to the league-leading Jayhawks (24-2, 13-1) in set scores of 18-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-20 and 15-8.

Prior to the match, setter Haley Roe, defensive specialist MaTia Hughes and middle blocker Hannah Shreve were honored as part of the team's annual Senior Night celebration.

Wednesday's match marked the ninth time this season and the sixth time in Big 12 play that the Mountaineers have gone to a deciding set. WVU is 4-5 in five-set matches. It also marks the first time since 2014 that West Virginia has taken a pair of sets from a nationally ranked opponent.

“I think it was a good effort by us,” WVU coach Reed Sunahara said. “We did some nice things. Kansas is a good team. For us, it's something we can build on. The future is bright.”

Payton Caffrey recorded her 12th double-double of the season with a team-best 19 kills and 16 digs, also adding a pair of blocks. Natania Levak netted 13 kills while Morgan Montgomery hit a team-high .346 with 12 kills. West Virginia finished the night hitting .172 with 61 kills and seven team blocks.

Mia Swanegan was the fourth player in double figures with 11 kills and led the Mountaineers with five team blocks. Shreve hit .273 with five kills and a block.

Erin Slinde registered her second double-double of the season, dishing out 55 assists and adding 10 digs in addition to a trio of blocks. Gianna Gotterba led the floor defense with 23 digs, while Gabrielle Cuckovich had six.

Caffrey, Swanegan and Montgomery each finished with a service ace.

Hitting .333 in the frame, the Jayhawks took an 11-6 advantage in the first on back-to-back WVU attacking errors. The teams traded points throughout the set as the advantage remained with Kansas. The Jayhawks used consecutive kills to take the set, 25-18.

Behind 16 kills from four players, the Mountaineers hit .419 to take the second set. An early 5-0 run pushed WVU ahead 5-1 on a Caffrey kill. Levak added a pair of kills and teamed with Caffrey on a block to make it a 14-6 Mountaineer advantage. A KU serve hit the net before Caffrey and Swanegan each found the court, giving West Virginia a 23-16 lead. The two scored again to close the set with a 25-18 win to tie the match 1-1.

The momentum swung back to the Jayhawks in the third set. Kansas capitalized on several Mountaineer miscues, taking an 8-4 lead. Three straight kills pushed the advantage to 17-10 before a late 4-0 run put KU on top 23-15. The Mountaineers extended the set with a pair of kills, but the Jayhawks claimed the 25-18 win for a 2-1 lead.

Trailing 5-3 early in the fourth, West Virginia rattled off four in a row for a 10-8 lead. From there, the Mountaineers never look back. A block from Caffrey and Slinde pushed the WVU advantage to five at 17-12 before a late 3-0 run brought the Jayhawks within three, down 22-19. A kill from Montgomery brought up set point before a KU attack went long to force a fifth set as WVU earned the 25-20 win.

Hitting .500 in the set, Kansas struck early for a 3-0 lead that forced WVU into a timeout. Kills from Caffrey and Montgomery got the Mountaineers back on track, but the Jayhawks took four in a row for a 12-5 lead. Kansas scored two of the final three points to claim the 15-8 triumph and win the match, 3-2.

Madison Rigdon had a team-high 15 kills for the Jayhawks, who hit .201 with 51 kills and 16 team blocks.

West Virginia heads to Texas next week to close out the regular season. The Mountaineers travel to Fort Worth on Wednesday, Nov. 23, for an 8 p.m. ET match at TCU. They will then trek to Austin on Saturday, Nov. 26, for a 2 p.m. tilt with No. 7 Texas.