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2016 Volleyball Season Preview
August 23, 2016 01:05 PM | Volleyball
The West Virginia University women’s volleyball team will look to rebound from a season of transition in 2015 when they take the court at Penn State on August 26. For his second year at the helm of the Mountaineers, coach Reed Sunahara returns a crew that consists of last season’s kills, blocking and assists leaders in addition to eight newcomers.
Hitters
The hitters will be one of the Mountaineers’ youngest but deepest positions, headlined by Morgan Montgomery. After a breakout season in 2015, Montgomery returns for her junior year with a full year of consistent play under her belt. After producing just 38 kills as a freshman in 2014, Montgomery was WVU’s best hitter in last season, ranking third in the Big 12 with 3.74 kills per set. She will be joined by rookies Payton Caffrey, Katelyn Evans and Maggie Hallow as well as Zuri Smith, who transferred from Colorado.
“We have a young group of pin hitters, but we will have more depth this year than we did last year,” said Sunahara. “We’ll be more athletic and physical. Their versatility will allow them to play all six rotations. They’ll all bring a competitive drive and high volleyball IQ.”
Blockers
Despite the loss of Caleah Wells to graduation, a pair of upperclassmen will be a strong core for the blockers. After leading the team in blocks as a junior, Hannah Shreve returns for her final campaign with the Mountaineers. Shreve found herself on the cusp of the Big 12 rankings last year, leading WVU with 0.99 blocks per set for a total of 94 on the season. She also added 1.20 kills per set with nine aces. Junior Mia Swanegan contributed 71 total blocks in her first season after transferring from TCU, averaging 0.73 per set. She also added 1.84 kills per set for a total of 178 on the season. Freshman Natania Levak, also a right side, enrolled at WVU in January and got a head start after practicing with the team throughout the spring season. Fellow newcomer Smith may also be asked to step in at middle blocker.
“Our middle blockers are our most experienced group,” said Sunahara. “The blockers we have all bring a different skill set, which allows us to run multiple options. The will anchor our frontline defense.”
Libero/Defensive specialist
Libero Gianna Gotterba, who has proven to be one of the Mountaineers’ most consistent players over the past two seasons, enters her junior season after leading WVU in digs the past two seasons. Gotterba won the job as a freshman and hasn’t looked back, leading the floor defense with 3.56 digs per set in 2015 – good for sixth in the Big 12. Gotterba also was second on the squad with 15 service aces. MaTia Hughes posted 2.08 digs per set after transferring to WVU from NYU, while Taylor Cross also was an addition to the defense in 2015 as she added 0.75 digs per set after transferring from New Mexico. Newcomer Gabrielle Cuckovich will add depth to this positional group.
“We have a good balance of youth and experience at this position,” said Sunahara. “We are expecting this group to provide us a high level of ball control and defense. They will solidify our back row play.”
Setters
Senior Haley Roe stepped in last season after senior Brittany Sample suffered a season-ending injury, moving from defensive specialist to setter. Roe averaged 4.56 assists per set in 100 sets for a total of 456 on the season, and 9.37 assists per set with a total of 431 in games that she started at setter. Freshman Erin Slinde arrived in Morgantown in January and spent the spring season practicing with the squad. Fellow newcomer Julia Avoletta also boasts experience at the position and adds depth.
“Setter is another position at which we have youth and experience with unlimited potential,” said Sunahara. “We are also adding size to help with our blocking and defense. They’ll be able to run a more efficient offense because of their skill set.”
Schedule
The slate features 12 home games for the Mountaineers, including a home tournament, as well as nonconference action in Charleston, West Virginia; University Park, Pennsylvania and California. Fourteen matches will be played against opponents who qualified for the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
“I think it’s a very competitive schedule,” said Sunahara. “We will find out early where we stand. We’ll be competing against nine teams that made the NCAA Tournament. It will be great preparation for the upcoming Big 12 season.”
WVU officially opens the season on Aug. 26 at the Penn State Classic in University Park, Pennsylvania. The Mountaineers will face the host Nittany Lions, who finished the 2015 season ranked No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches Poll after reaching the regional semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on North Carolina and Georgia Southern on Saturday. The Tar Heels came in at No. 25 in the final coaches’ poll of the 2015 season after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
West Virginia kicks off September by co-hosting The Capitol Classic with in-state foe Marshall at the Charleston Civic Center on Sept. 2-3. The squad will take on Indiana State on Friday morning before defending the Golden Ball trophy against the Thundering Herd later that evening. WVU’s part in the event will wrap up Saturday morning against Morehead State.
The Mountaineers head to the West Coast from Sept. 9-12, where they will compete in a three-match tournament at Cal before heading to Pacific. After opening with the Cal Bears on Friday, WVU will face Santa Clara and Grand Canyon in Berkeley in front of several families as both junior Gianna Gotterba and senior Haley Roe hail from Northern California. On Sept. 12, the team will make the hour-long trip to Stockton for a nonconference match at Pacific, where Gotterba will face her twin sister Katrin, who is the libero for the Tigers.
The bulk of the nonconference slate wraps up in Morgantown with the WVU Invitational on Sept. 16-17. The Mountaineers welcome Winthrop, Akron and Dartmouth for the event, and will face the Eagles on Friday evening before squaring off with the Zips on Saturday afternoon. Saturday evening’s finale will be a showdown between the Mountaineers and the Big Green.
Following tradition, West Virginia opens Big 12 play on Sept. 20 when perennial contender Texas comes to town. The Longhorns were the 2016 national runner-up after falling to Nebraska in the title game last December. After a trip to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech on Sept. 24, the Mountaineers return to the WVU Coliseum to host four straight. Home matches against 2015 NCAA tournament qualifiers TCU (Sept. 28) and Iowa State (Sept. 30) close out the month of September.
October kicks off with back-to-back contests against Oklahoma. The Sooners will play in Morgantown twice, on Oct. 7 and 8, after travel issues forced the Mountaineers to play two matches in Norman last season. On Oct. 12, the team will make the short jaunt to Moon Township, Pennsylvania, to close out the nonconference slate at Robert Morris.
Resuming Big 12 play, the Mountaineers travel to Kansas for a pair of matches. They’ll square off with Kansas in Lawrence on Oct. 20 before making their way to Manhattan on Oct. 22 to face Kansas State. Both squads made last year’s NCAA tournament, with the Jayhawks falling to eventual champion Nebraska in the semifinals. The team caps the month by hosting Texas Tech in Morgantown on Oct. 29.
WVU will hit the road for four of its six matches in November, starting Nov. 2 when the Mountaineers travel to Ames, Iowa, for a return trip to Iowa State. The return to Morgantown to host the K-State Wildcats on Nov. 9 before heading to Waco, Texas, to wrap their season series with Baylor on Nov. 12. The home slate closes out on Nov. 16 when WVU welcomes the Jayhawks to the WVU Coliseum. The team will then spend the week of Thanksgiving in Texas, as the Mountaineers first make their way to Fort Worth to face the Horned Frogs (Nov. 23) before capping the regular season in Austin with the Longhorns (Nov. 26).
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