Mountaineers Take 3-1 Win at Cal

Friday, September 9

Berkeley, Calif.

10:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

4-3

California

4-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
West Virginia	18	25	25	25	3
California	25	20	23	21	1

Levak-Main-091016.jpg

September 10, 2016 01:17 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

West Virginia Mountaineers

4-3

Final

Cal Golden Bears

4-2

Final Stats

BERKELEY, Calif. – Three players posted double-digit kills as the West Virginia University volleyball team claimed a 3-1 triumph of the Pac-12's California Golden Bears in the Mountaineers' first match of the Cal Classic, winning in set scores of 18-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-21 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California, on Friday night.

The freshmen led the way as Payton Caffrey (15), Natania Levak (12) and Katelyn Evans (10) each posted 10 or more kills with Levak hitting .345 in the match. Caffrey added a trio of service aces, while Levak chipped in a pair also as the team totaled seven on the night. The Mountaineers (4-3) hit .200 as a team.

Mia Swanegan had a team-best 10 blocks, while Levak and Hannah Shreve each registered four. Swanegan and Shreve each contributed offensively as well with seven and six kills, respectively. Caffrey and Erin Slinde each posted a trio of blocks with WVU tallying 14.0 in the match.

Haley Roe assisted on 23 of WVU's 53 kills, while Slinde had 13 assists. She also hit .600 with three kills.

Caffrey and Gianna Gotterba led defensively, as Caffrey collected her third double-double of the year with 10 digs while Gotterba had a team-best 11. Roe dug eight balls while Levak registered seven digs for a team total of 46.

“I think we executed the game plan very well,” said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. “”We were relentless and didn't give up, even after losing that first set. We managed the match well and had a good finish. I'm proud of how they played.”

Levak, Evans and Shreve each had a trio of kills in set one. Five in a row from the Golden Bears put them ahead, 11-5, before Slinde and Swanegan teamed on a block to stop the run. Three rookies – Caffrey, Evans and Levak – found the court to bring the Mountaineers within two, at 14-12. However, Cal took claimed the momentum and took four of the last five points of the set in earning a 25-18 win for a 1-0 lead.

The Mountaineers rattled off three in a row early in the second set for a 4-2 lead, but soon lost their momentum when Cal even the score at 4-4. West Virginia was able to keep a slim lead throughout most of the set, and then rattled off six in a row for a late 23-15 lead. Swanegan and Levak teamed for the block to finish things off as WVU took the 25-20 triumph to even the match 1-1.

Hitting .333 in the set, West Virginia carried their momentum from set two into the third stanza for a 25-23 win. After playing to ties at 8-all, 11-all and 18-all, a kill from Caffrey and an ace from Levak pushed WVU in front, 20-18. However, Cal came back to tie things up before taking a 21-20 advantage on a kill. Caffrey and Swanegan found the court and the Bears were called for a double hit as West Virginia claimed 23-21 lead. Cal called a timeout and once again came back to even the score at 23-all. Evans came up with a huge kill to set up set-point before Swanegan scored a service ace as the Mountaineers took the set for a 2-1 lead.

After Cal got out to a 6-2 lead in the fourth set, the Mountaineers used a timeout to regroup and work their way back for a 13-13 tie on a Caffrey service ace. The teams kept it close, battling to ties at 17-17 and 19-19 before a WVU attacking error put Cal on top, 19-17. WVU rolled off five in a row as Levak and Swanegan teamed for back-to-back blocks for a 22-19 win, forcing Cal into a timeout. The freshman again came up big, as Levak, Caffrey and Evans put down kills for three of the final four points to give the Mountaineers the 25-21 set win and 3-1 win in the match.

West Virginia returns to Haas Pavilion on Saturday for a pair of matches. The squad will face No. 19 Santa Clara at 3:30 p.m. ET before taking the court against Grand Canyon at 8 p.m. ET.