West Virginia Tops Kansas State in Five Sets

Saturday, October 21

Morgantown, W.Va.

1:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

14-7, 3-5

Kansas State

9-12, 2-6

Kansas State

West Virginia

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

October 21, 2017 06:24 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats Coach Sunahara Post-Game Presser

By: Amy Salvatore

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey had 25 kills to lead the West Virginia University volleyball team to a five-set win over Kansas State, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers (14-7, 3-5) took the Big 12 win, their third of the season, over the Wildcats (9-12, 2-6) in set scores of 16-25, 25-19, 25-22, 19-25 and 15-11.

"I think we played well enough to win when it counted," said WVU coach Reed Sunahara. "They are good. Kansas State is very good. They have good pieces, and I thought we were lucky to get a win today. It doesn't help when you have 38 hitting errors, but we dug deep when it counted, and we got the job done."

Caffrey led the team with 25 kills, hitting .298 in the process. Sophomore right side hitter Natania Levak added 10, while senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan hit .278 with nine kills. Senior outside hitter Morgan Montgomery and sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans each added six kills, while freshman middle blocker Katie DeMeo had four.

Senior setter Emma Anderson had 31 assists, splitting time with sophomore setter Erin Slinde, who dished out 19 assists. Senior libero Gianna Gotterba led the floor defensively with 19 digs, followed by Caffrey with nine. Freshman defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor and Slinde also added eight digs each to the team total of 69.

WVU finished the match hitting .133 with 60 kills and six team blocks. Peyton Williams led the Wildcats' efforts, hitting .375 with 12 kills. Bryna Vogel also entered double digits for K-State with 11 kills on the day. The Wildcats finished the match hitting .220 with 51 kills and 18 team blocks.

The Mountaineers struggled offensively in the first set, hitting .071, as the Wildcats used a 12-0 run to take a 20-10 lead. A service error from K-State's Sarah Dixon ended the run, but the Wildcats then scored four straight to reach set point. The Mountaineers refused to back down, tough, using a five-point scoring streak of their own to come within eight, down 24-16. However, the Wildcats took advantage of a WVU attacking error to claim the first set, 25-16.

Looking to even the score of the match, WVU traded points with KSU early in the second set. The Mountaineers then used a trio of kills to score three in a row to take a 17-12 advantage, forcing a Kansas State timeout. Caffrey then pushed WVU's lead to five at 18-13 with her fifth kill of the frame. The Wildcats continued to hang in the set, rattling off three in a row to cut their deficit to three. However, a Montgomery kill started another 3-0 run for the Mountaineers, bringing WVU to set point, 24-19. The Wildcats fought back with a kill from Williams, but a K-State service error ended the set with a 25-19 win to tie the match 1-1.

The Mountaineers used a 5-0 scoring run to take a 7-2 advantage in set three. However, the Wildcats stormed back with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the set at 10-all. The set was once again tied at 16-16 before WVU rattled off three consecutive points to take the 19-16 lead. Another 3-0 scoring run from the Mountaineers put WVU at set point, 24-18, but the Wildcats answered the call once again, scoring four in a row to cut their deficit to two at 24-22. Evans then found the floor for her second kill of the frame, as West Virginia notched the 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

West Virginia was unable to maintain its momentum in the fourth set, hitting just .222 to Kansas State's .500. The Wildcats took four in a row to go ahead 4-1 before a pair of Caffrey kills ended their short run. The squads continued to exchange points before a 3-0 Kansas State run brought its lead to four. With West Virginia trailing 18-14, Sunahara used a timeout. Caffrey punched in three more kills out of the stoppage, but it wasn't enough, as Kansas State claimed the 25-19 win to tie the match at two apiece, forcing a fifth set.

The Mountaineers used a pair of scoring runs to jump out to a 10-4 lead in the final set. However, the Wildcats continued to claw their way back in the match, scoring four of the next five points to cut their deficit to three at 11-8. Back-to-back kills for WVU had the team serving match point with a 14-9 advantage, but K-State stayed alive with a kill from Vogel and a WVU attacking error. Caffrey's 25th kill of the day then put the set away, 15-11, to hand the Mountaineers' the 3-2 victory.

The Mountaineers defeated the Wildcats for the first time since Nov. 29, 2014, when West Virginia claimed a five-set win over K-State in Manhattan for its first-ever win over a top-25 RPI program. With today's win, K-State still holds a 8-3 lead in the series.

Looking ahead, West Virginia will swing through Texas for a pair of Big 12 matches. The Mountaineers will square off against TCU on Thursday, Oct. 26, followed by a match at Texas on Saturday, Oct. 28.

"Playing on the road is tough, so we have to make sure we take care of business at home and keep getting better," Sunahara said. "We have to stay competitive."

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.