Friday, October 13
Morgantown, W.Va.
6:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
13-6, 2-4
3
vs
1
Oklahoma
4-15, 1-5
1
2
3
4
F
Oklahoma
25
21
20
16
1
West Virginia
18
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Jennifer Shephard
West Virginia Storms Back, Takes Down Oklahoma
October 13, 2017 09:25 PM | Volleyball
The Mountaineers claimed a 3-1 triumph over Big 12 foe Oklahoma Friday evening for the first time in program history
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In front of 1,264 Mountaineer fans, the West Virginia University volleyball team snapped a four-game losing streak Friday evening, claiming a 3-1 triumph over Big 12 foe Oklahoma for the first time in program history. The Mountaineers won in set scores of 18-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-16 over the Sooners.
"We appreciate all the fans coming out tonight," said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. "The swim team was great, and it was awesome to have the alumni back inside the Coliseum. It's always good to beat a good team. Oklahoma is well coached. (Oklahoma's head coach) Santiago (Restrepo) and I go way back. He's done a nice job at Oklahoma, but it is always good to beat a Big 12 opponent. We just have to take it one match at a time. Tonight was a good win for us."
Four Mountaineers finished the night hitting .300 or better, with the team hitting .213 on the evening. Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey paved the way for WVU with 19 kills (.343), followed by sophomore right side Natania Levak with nine. Senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan also hit a team high .375, recording eight kills in the match.
Sophomore setter Erin Slide assisted on 39 kills, while senior libero Gianna Gotterba had a team-high 11 digs. Freshman middle blocker Katie DeMeo also recorded eight blocking attacks for the Mountaineers, while Swanegan and Levak posted six apiece.
As a team, West Virginia (13-6, 2-4) had 49 kills and just 23 errors on 122 total swings with 15 team blocks.
The Sooners capitalized on several early hitting errors by the Mountaineers for a 13-8 lead in set one. Another 3-0 run for Oklahoma made it 17-10 before a Mountaineer kill from sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans brought WVU within six. However, West Virginia struggled to string together consecutive points down the stretch, as OU used a pair of kills and a WVU attacking error to claim the first set 25-18.
"It's all about focus," Sunahara said. "I told our team that we had to be a little bit more aggressive, and we weren't aggressive in the first set. We came back in the second set, and everyone did a nice job for us."
The Sooners scored five in a row to take a 6-3 advantage to start the second set. However, the Mountaineers worked their way back from the deficit, scoring six consecutive points of their own to take a 9-6 lead. Oklahoma later tied the match at 18-all, but West Virginia continued to stay one step ahead of the Sooners, as Caffrey buried back-to-back kills to start another run for the Mountaineers (21-20). WVU then used a pair of OU attacking errors to its advantage, capturing four of the next five points and putting the set away for the 25-21 win.
The Mountaineers carried their momentum from set two into the third stanza for a 25-20 win. The squads kept it close for most of the third set before WVU rattled off three in a row for a 9-7 lead. Oklahoma's Madison Drescher scored a kill in-between WVU's scoring runs, with Caffrey finding the court twice to put WVU ahead, 12-8. Oklahoma rallied late in the set, scoring three straight to shrink its deficit to two, down 22-20. However, the Mountaineers finished off the set scoring three consecutive points for the 25-20 win.
An early 7-0 run pushed the Mountaineers ahead 9-4 in the fourth set. Oklahoma then used a timeout to regroup down seven, but the Sooners never found the momentum they needed. The Mountaineers forced four straight attacking errors on the Sooners, as the squad continued to hold the upper hand. Levak and senior outside hitter Morgan Montgomery each put down a kill for two of the final four points to give the Mountaineers the 25-16 win and the 3-1 win in the match.
Two Sooners finished with double-digit kills, as Oklahoma hit .056 on the evening with 47 kills and 11 team blocks.
Of note, tonight's Big 12 win was WVU's first since Sept. 20, 2017, when the Mountaineers defeated TCU, 3-1, inside the WVU Coliseum. Prior to tonight's victory, the Sooners (4-15, 1-5) boasted an 11-0 advantage in the all-time series.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will head to Ames, Iowa, for a Big 12 match against No. 23 Iowa State on Wednesday, Oct. 18. First serve against the Cyclones is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
"We appreciate all the fans coming out tonight," said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. "The swim team was great, and it was awesome to have the alumni back inside the Coliseum. It's always good to beat a good team. Oklahoma is well coached. (Oklahoma's head coach) Santiago (Restrepo) and I go way back. He's done a nice job at Oklahoma, but it is always good to beat a Big 12 opponent. We just have to take it one match at a time. Tonight was a good win for us."
Four Mountaineers finished the night hitting .300 or better, with the team hitting .213 on the evening. Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey paved the way for WVU with 19 kills (.343), followed by sophomore right side Natania Levak with nine. Senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan also hit a team high .375, recording eight kills in the match.
Sophomore setter Erin Slide assisted on 39 kills, while senior libero Gianna Gotterba had a team-high 11 digs. Freshman middle blocker Katie DeMeo also recorded eight blocking attacks for the Mountaineers, while Swanegan and Levak posted six apiece.
As a team, West Virginia (13-6, 2-4) had 49 kills and just 23 errors on 122 total swings with 15 team blocks.
The Sooners capitalized on several early hitting errors by the Mountaineers for a 13-8 lead in set one. Another 3-0 run for Oklahoma made it 17-10 before a Mountaineer kill from sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans brought WVU within six. However, West Virginia struggled to string together consecutive points down the stretch, as OU used a pair of kills and a WVU attacking error to claim the first set 25-18.
"It's all about focus," Sunahara said. "I told our team that we had to be a little bit more aggressive, and we weren't aggressive in the first set. We came back in the second set, and everyone did a nice job for us."
The Sooners scored five in a row to take a 6-3 advantage to start the second set. However, the Mountaineers worked their way back from the deficit, scoring six consecutive points of their own to take a 9-6 lead. Oklahoma later tied the match at 18-all, but West Virginia continued to stay one step ahead of the Sooners, as Caffrey buried back-to-back kills to start another run for the Mountaineers (21-20). WVU then used a pair of OU attacking errors to its advantage, capturing four of the next five points and putting the set away for the 25-21 win.
The Mountaineers carried their momentum from set two into the third stanza for a 25-20 win. The squads kept it close for most of the third set before WVU rattled off three in a row for a 9-7 lead. Oklahoma's Madison Drescher scored a kill in-between WVU's scoring runs, with Caffrey finding the court twice to put WVU ahead, 12-8. Oklahoma rallied late in the set, scoring three straight to shrink its deficit to two, down 22-20. However, the Mountaineers finished off the set scoring three consecutive points for the 25-20 win.
An early 7-0 run pushed the Mountaineers ahead 9-4 in the fourth set. Oklahoma then used a timeout to regroup down seven, but the Sooners never found the momentum they needed. The Mountaineers forced four straight attacking errors on the Sooners, as the squad continued to hold the upper hand. Levak and senior outside hitter Morgan Montgomery each put down a kill for two of the final four points to give the Mountaineers the 25-16 win and the 3-1 win in the match.
Two Sooners finished with double-digit kills, as Oklahoma hit .056 on the evening with 47 kills and 11 team blocks.
Of note, tonight's Big 12 win was WVU's first since Sept. 20, 2017, when the Mountaineers defeated TCU, 3-1, inside the WVU Coliseum. Prior to tonight's victory, the Sooners (4-15, 1-5) boasted an 11-0 advantage in the all-time series.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will head to Ames, Iowa, for a Big 12 match against No. 23 Iowa State on Wednesday, Oct. 18. First serve against the Cyclones is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
OU
WVU
Kills
47
49
Errors
39
23
Attempts
142
122
Hitting %
.056
.213
Points
60.0
65.0
Assists
43
47
Aces
2
1
Blocks
11.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB/OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballRS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
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