Mountaineer Fall to No. 19 Tar Heels

Saturday, August 27

State College, Pa.

1:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

0-2

North Carolina

2-0

Team	1	2	3	Final F
North Carolina	25	28	25	3
West Virginia	16	26	21	0

Shreve-Main-082716.jpg

August 27, 2016 03:02 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A 17-kill effort from Payton Caffrey and a trio of blocks from Hannah Shreve wasn't enough for the West Virginia University volleyball team as the Mountaineers fell to the No. 19-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 3-0, in their second game of the Penn State Classic on Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania. The squad dropped the contest in set scores of 25-16, 28-26 and 25-21.

Caffrey registered her first career double-double, adding 11 digs to the score sheet as well as a block assist. Shreve was again a steady presence both offensively and defensively, chipping in with seven kills and a team-best .286 attacking percentage. Morgan Montgomery had five kills and eight digs, tying for the team lead with a trio of block assists, while Mia Swanegan found the court on four occasions.

Haley Roe had a team-high 23 assists, while Erin Slinde also saw action at setter with 10. Gianna Gotterba dug a team-best 16 balls and scored on a service ace as Montgomery notched two of the team's four aces on the day.

West Virginia hit .138 as a team with 7.0 team blocks and 46 digs. North Carolina hit .270 in the match with 11.5 team blocks.

“I saw some good things in the second set,” said coach Reed Sunahara. “We still need to work on some things but I thought we improved on some things from last night. We need to learn to carry that momentum forward.”

Shreve hit .400 with a trio of kills in the first set as UNC hit .367 in taking a 25-16 victory. Four straight kills bolstered a 6-0 Tar Heel run that left WVU trailing 6-1 early on. Swanegan and Caffrey each found the court, but the Mountaineers still found themselves on the wrong end of the 8-4 score. Shreve put down back-to-back kills to bring WVU within three, down 11-8, but a trio of Mountaineer errors pushed the Tar Heels in front 15-9. Another 4-0 run by UNC put WVU down 19-12, and the Tar Heels went on to take the set.

The Mountaineers challenged the Tar Heels in the second set, using a block by Swanegan and Caffrey in their way to a 4-3 lead. Back-to-back service aces by Montgomery put WVU in front 12-8 before Montgomery and Caffrey each had a kill to keep West Virginia in front 20-17, but North Carolina rattled off four in a row to knot the score 21-21 on a block. The teams traded points to make for an exciting finish, as Gotterba served set-point with a 24-23 lead before the Tar Heels tied the score on a kill. Caffrey found the court to extend the set again, tying things at 25-all before consecutive kills gave North Carolina the 28-26 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.

The teams traded points for the start of the third before a pair of blocks helped UNC score four consecutive points for a 12-8 advantage. Caffrey and Swanegan each put one through the pins as the Mountaineers came within one, down 14-13. The Mountaineers took four of five points to go up 20-19 on a kill from Katelyn Evans, but North Carolina scored three straight to take the set, 25-21, and win the match 3-0.

WVU will close out the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. match against Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon.