WVU Falls in Five to K-State

Wednesday, November 9

Morgantown, W.Va.

6:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

12-14, 3-9

Kansas State

18-8, 7-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
K-State	26	25	22	22	15	3
West Virginia	24	19	25	25	10	2

SlindeSwanegan-Main-110916.jpg

November 09, 2016 09:55 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Kansas State Wildcats

18-8, 7-6

Final

West Virginia Mountaineers

12-14, 3-9

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After coming back from a two-set deficit to tie the match, the West Virginia University volleyball team was unable to overtake Kansas State and fell in five, 3-2, to the Wildcats on Wednesday evening at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers (12-14, 3-9) dropped the match to K-State (18-8, 7-6) in set scores of 24-26, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 10-15.

Wednesday's match marked the eighth time this season WVU has gone to five sets. The Mountaineers move to 4-4 on the season in five-set matches.

“I think we made some good adjustments and started to figure things out,” said coach Reed Sunahara. “I thought it was about us. We made a lot of mistakes. We could have managed better. Because of the mistakes, we gave them points that we could have converted into our points. When we start playing better and win the third and fourth (sets), I thought we did a much better job of managing the ball.”

After setting a career-high in blocks in the first meeting between the two teams, Mia Swanegan posted another career night for the Mountaineers. The junior middle blocker led the squad with 22 kills – nine more than her previous career high of 13. She hit .289 in the process and led the blocking effort with seven total blocks.

Natania Levak had 15 kills, hitting .237, while Katelyn Evans and Payton Caffrey each added 12. Hannah Shreve netted six kills as WVU finished the match hitting .145 with 70 team kills and 41 errors.

Levak and Shreve each added five block assists, while Evans had four. West Virginia totaled 12 team blocks in the match.

Erin Slinde had a career-best 55 assists, also chipping in a trio of kills and a block.

Three Mountaineers finished in double figures in digs, led by libero Gianna Gotterba's 25. Taylor Cross had 15 while Gabrielle Cuckovich dug 15 balls. Cuckovich also recorded a pair of service aces, while Swanegan added another.

Brooke Sassin led K-State with 14 kills. The Wildcats finished the match hitting .208 with 55 kills and 18 team blocks.

A 6-0 run put the Wildcats up, 8-5, in the first set though the Mountaineers came back for an 11-10 lead on a Caffrey kill. The teams battled back and forth to a 23-23 tie, with a block from Caffrey and Swanegan setting up set point for WVU with a 24-23 lead. A K-State kill and a WVU attacking error put the momentum in the Wildcats' favor, and K-State capped the set with a block for the 26-24 triumph.

The Wildcats made it two in a row, as seven kills from Swanegan wasn't enough for the Mountaineers in the second frame. Four straight Kansas State kills midway through gave the Wildcats a 16-12 advantage, and they never looked back. Swanegan found the court for three in a row, but WVU found itself trailing 20-17. Back-to-back blocks eventually handed the set to K-State with a 25-19 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.

K-State took six straight for a 9-7 advantage in the third set, but the Mountaineers rallied for a 15-14 lead following a kill by Caffrey. The teams proceeded to trade points to a 22-22 tie before West Virginia netted three on a kill on kills from Levak and Caffrey, as well as a Wildcat attacking error, to claim the 25-22 win.

Looking to keep the momentum going in the fourth, WVU used a pair of kills from Evans and another from Slinde for a 10-9 lead. The duo each added another kill to keep the Mountaineers in front, 15-13. Swanegan kills bookended a Cuckovich ace as West Virginia stretched its advantage to four at 20-16. The Wildcats came within one on a WVU service error at 21-20, but Evans and Caffrey each found the court to pick up the 25-22 win and tie the match 2-2.

K-State opened the fifth set on back-to-back service aces before Swanegan had consecutive kills to bring WVU within one, down 3-2. A 3-0 run made it 8-3 in favor of the Wildcats before Evans stopped the streak with a kill. A K-State service error brought WVU within two, down 10-8, but back-to-back attacking errors pushed the Wildcats ahead by four. The Wildcats took three of the final four points, winning the set 15-10 on a WVU service error to take the match 3-2.

The Mountaineers travel to Waco, Texas, on Saturday for a 2 p.m. match at Big 12 foe Baylor.