WVU Wins Five-Set Thriller vs. TCU

Wednesday, September 28

Morgantown, W.Va.

6:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

10-6, 2-1

TCU

9-4, 2-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
TCU	18	26	25	18	10	2
West Virginia	25	24	21	25	15	3

Swanegan-Main-092816.jpg

September 28, 2016 10:04 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

TCU Horned Frogs

9-4, 2-1

Final

West Virginia Mountaineers

10-6, 2-1

Final Stats

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four players finished with double-digit kills as the West Virginia University volleyball team took a 3-2 win from TCU on Wednesday evening at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers (10-6, 2-1) won the match over the Horned Frogs (9-4, 2-1) in set scores of 25-18, 24-26, 21-25 25-18 and 15-10.

West Virginia did not record a Big 12 win last season and has now posted back-to-back victories in conference matches. The loss was the first conference defeat for TCU, who is coached by former WVU coach Jill Kramer.

“It was a hell of a win by us,” said second-year head coach Reed Sunahara. “I'm proud of our players. They were resilient; they never gave up even after losing the second set. I thought in the third set we were a little flat, but we came out strong in the fourth and finished strong. I'm proud of them.”

Payton Caffrey recorded double-double No. 8 with 21 kills and a career-best 20 digs in addition to six assists and a trio of blocks. Morgan Montgomery just missed the double-double with 12 kills and nine digs, while Katelyn Evans had 11 kills and seven digs.

Mia Swanegan, who spent her freshman season at TCU before transferring to WVU in 2015, led the team with eight total blocks while netting 12 kills and a pair of aces. She hit .400 on 25 total swings.

At setter, Haley Roe registered 22 assists while Erin Slinde had 23 as the Mountaineers totaled a season-high 62 assists. Slinde hit a team-best .500 with five kills and four blocks. Hannah Shreve had a pair of solo blocks and a block assist to go with eight kills.

Gianna Gotterba tied Caffrey for a team-best 20 digs, while Roe was the third Mountaineer in double figures at 16. Gotterba also added six assists and a service ace for WVU as the Mountaineers hit .184 with 69 kills, 84 digs and 11 team blocks.

Hitting .400 with 21 kills in the first set, the Mountaineers took a 25-18 win over the Horned Frogs. Kills by Caffrey and Swanegan, who also added a block, put WVU at a 10-4 advantage out of a TCU timeout. A 3-0 run by the Horned Frogs brought them within three, down 15-12, but Caffrey found the court twice more while Montgomery and Swanegan each added a kill to send TCU into another timeout, trailing 20-15. The Mountaineers kept the momentum as a pair of kills from Evans put WVU at set point before Slinde sent it over for the win.

Despite taking an early 8-2 on back-to-back kills by Slinde, the Mountaineers couldn't keep the early momentum in the second set. A pair of WVU errors tied the score at 9-9, and the two teams stayed closed throughout the rest of the set. After a kill by Shreve had the Mountaineers serving set point, they gave up a 6-0 run to the Frogs as TCU took the 26-24 win to tie the match 1-1.

The Horned Frogs kept the momentum in set three, taking a 25-21 win as the Mountaineers struggled offensively. A Caffrey kill and three straight blocks by Swanegan and company put WVU ahead 11-4, but the Frogs rattled off nine in a row for a 16-13 advantage. Back-to-back kills from Montgomery kept West Virginia in the set with a 16-16 tie, but TCU capped the set with a block to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

An early 5-0 WVU withstood a TCU timeout as the Mountaineers claimed a 9-2 lead. They never looked back, as Caffrey and Montgomery found the court to make it 15-8 before a Swanegan ace made it 17-10, forcing a TCU stoppage. The Horned Frogs scored three straight to come within five, down 21-16, but Slinde and Swanegan each put down a kill as the Mountaineers took the 25-18 triumph to tie the score at 2-2 and force a fifth set.

The fifth set belonged to the Mountaineers, who out-hit the Frogs .273 to .000 in the tiebreaker. Back-to-back Caffrey kills put WVU on top 5-3, forcing TCU into a timeout. The Horned Frogs came back to even the score, 5-5, on a kill before Montgomery netted the eighth kill of the set as the teams switched sides with WVU ahead 8-7. Back-to-back scores for the Horned Frogs put them up, 9-8, as Sunahara used a timeout. A 3-0 run out of the stoppage gave the momentum back to the Mountaineers, who took an 11-9 lead. WVU then scored four straight, as Caffrey scored a kill then teamed with Swanegan for the block before Swanegan buried the ball for the 15-10 win as the Mountaineers claimed the 3-2 victory.

Anna Walsh had 14 kills for the Horned Frogs, who hit .141 with 52 kills and 14 team blocks.

The Mountaineers welcome Iowa State to Morgantown on Friday evening. First service is set for 6 p.m. inside the WVU Coliseum.