WVU Falls to TCU in Four Sets - West Virginia University Athletics

Thursday, October 26

Forth Worth, Texas

8:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

14-8, 3-6Big 12

TCU

10-11, 2-7Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
West Virginia	25	18	21	21	1
TCU	21	25	25	25	3

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

October 26, 2017 11:04 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Amy Salvatore

FORT WORTH, Texas – The West Virginia University volleyball team fell in a 3-1 match to Big 12 foe TCU Thursday evening at The Rickel in Fort Worth, Texas. The Mountaineers, who move to 14-8, 3-6 on the season, took the loss in set scores of 25-21, 18-25, 21-25 and 21-25.

The Mountaineers (14-8, 3-6) hit .151 with 25 errors and 10 team blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey and sophomore right side hitter Natania Levak tied for a team-high nine kills, while freshman Briana Lynch found the floor seven times to notch a new career high in her first Big 12 start.

Additionally, sophomore setter Erin Slinde assisted on 32 kills, while senior libero Gianna Gotterba lead the team with 21 digs.

The Mountaineers used a pair of scoring runs in the first set to take a 7-2 lead over the Horned Frogs, forcing TCU into an early timeout. Out of the stoppage, the Horned Frogs used a 3-0 run of their own to bring the score within two, 7-5. WVU then scored seven of the next eight points to make it 14-6 in favor of the Mountaineers. TCU did not back down, though, as the Horned Frogs capitalized on several Mountaineer miscues to cut their deficit to four, down 18-14. Levak, Morgan Montgomery and Mia Swanegan each added a kill to push West Virginia ahead, 21-16. Swanegan continued to stay hot, notching two more kills in the set, before a powerful swing from Lynch put WVU at set point, 24-19. TCU managed to tally two more points before Levak put one through the pins to end the frame, 25-21, for a 1-0 Mountaineer lead.

WVU got off to a rocky start in the second set, falling behind 5-1 after a 5-0 TCU run. The squads continued to trade points before WVU countered with a 3-0 run of its own, bringing the Mountaineers within one. TCU then called a timeout, with the Horned Frogs holding a 10-9 advantage. West Virginia eventually tied the match at 16-all, following a pair of attacking errors from the Frogs, but TCU went on to score nine of the next 11 points to claim the 25-18 victory.

After playing to 13 ties throughout the course of the set, TCU scored four points in a row for a 25-21 win in the third stanza. WVU used a trio of TCU errors to come back and tie the match at 19-all. TCU then scored back-to-back points off an Anna Walsh kill and a Lexi MacLean service ace to give the Horned Frogs a 21-20 advantage. However, a kill from Katelyn Evans once again evened the score at 21-21. Unfortunately, a trio of kills and a TCU service ace allowed the Horned Frogs to take a 2-1 match advantage over the Mountaineers.

The squads kept it close for most of the fourth set before TCU notched back-to-back-to-back points for a 22-18 lead. Following a timeout from Sunahara, WVU scored two in a row to come within two, down 22-20. The Horned Frogs then took a 24-20 lead setting up match point, but West Virginia hung in there with a kill from Levak. However, a TCU kill from Abigail Buckingham gave the Horned Frogs the 25-21 win, as they took the match 3-1.

Of note, WVU and TCU (10-11, 2-7) completed the 2017 season with a tie in the home-and-away series. TCU now holds a 9-4 all-time series advantage.

Looking ahead, West Virginia will take on No. 3 Texas on Saturday, Oct. 28, in Austin, Texas, in an 8 p.m. ET league tilt. The Mountaineers and the Longhorns meet for the 12th time since 2012 in a series that started when West Virginia joined the Big 12 that season. UT owns an 11-0 lead in the series, though WVU took the Longhorns to five sets in the most recent meeting between the programs, which took place on Sept. 23.

"They'll be ready," Sunahara said. "They are playing a lot better than when they played us here at home. Texas is a great team. They have all the pieces and the experience. I want to go in there and compete as hard as we can, and hopefully, we will walk away with great results."

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