WVU Drops Big 12 Match at Iowa State

Wednesday, November 2

Ames, Iowa

7:30 p.m.

West Virginia University

12-13, 3-8Big 12

Iowa State

13-9, 5-5Big 12

Team	1	2	3	Final F
West Virginia	18	20	23	0
Iowa State	25	25	25	3

Gotterba-main-110216.jpg

November 02, 2016 09:51 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

West Virginia Mountaineers

12-13, 3-8

Final

Iowa State Cyclones

139, 5-5

Final Stats

AMES, Iowa – Junior libero Gianna Gotterba collected her 1,000th career dig, but the West Virginia University volleyball team was unable overcome offensive struggles as the Mountaineers suffered a 3-0 Big 12 loss at Iowa State on Wednesday evening at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones (13-9, 5-5) took the match from the Mountaineers (12-13, 3-8) in set scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-23.

WVU hit .106 with 31 kills and 20 attacking errors in the match, producing seven team blocks.

Payton Caffrey and Mia Swanegan each netted eight kills, with Swanegan hitting a team-best .250. Katelyn Evans had seven kills, while Natania Levak added five and Hannah Shreve produced a trio.

Swanegan, Levak and Shreve each had three block assists. Evans posted a block solo and a block assist, while Caffrey and Slinde each had a block as well.

Slinde assisted on 26 of WVU's kills and had a career-high three service aces in the match.

Gotterba picked up her 1,000th dig on her fourth of the match, and added eight more to lead the team with 12. Caffrey and Cuckovich each had five, with Cuckovich added a serve ace.

The Mountaineers couldn't sustain an early lead, as the Cyclones came back to tie the first set at 4-4 then 8-8. Back-to-back service aces by Slinde, along with a kill from Levak, pushed WVU on top 9-8. However, a pair of 3-0 runs by Iowa State put the Cyclones on top 15-11. West Virginia capitalized on three straight ISU errors to come within one, down 16-15. The Cylcones then rattled off four in a row for a 10-15 advantage. Levak found the court twice, but ISU went on to score three straight for a 25-18 win.

Iowa State jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set and never looked back. An ace from Cuckovich and a block from Swanegan and Slinde brought the Mountaineers within three, down 8-5. Swanegan added a kill before ISU was called for a ball-handling error, though the Cyclones continued to lead, 13-8. Caffrey added a trio of kills before Evans threw one down to bring the Mountaineers within four, down 20-16.The Cyclones scored three of the final four points to win the set, 25-20, for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Evans had a pair of early kills in the third set for a 3-0 WVU lead. Caffrey notched a pair of kills and Swanegan also found the court to keep the Mountaineers on top 11-9 following a ISU setting error. The Cyclones came back to tie the set, 11-11 and 14-14 before taking three in a row for a 19-16 advantage. Swanegan had a kill and a block assists and the Cyclones had a pair of ball-handling errors as the Mountaineers came back to knot the score at 23-23. However, Iowa State used a WVU service error and a block to take the 25-23 win for a 3-0 victory in the match.

Ciara Capezio and Jess Schaben each had eight kills for the Cyclones, who hit .322 with 40 kills and 12 blocks.

West Virginia returns to Morgantown to host Kansas State on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the WVU Coliseum in a 6 p.m. match.