Saturday, December 9
Oxford, Miss.
5:30 P.M.
West Virginia University
21-13
0
vs
3
Ole Miss
21-14
1
2
3
F
West Virginia
23
22
17
0
Ole Miss
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Steven Prunty
WVU Concludes NIVC Postseason Run at Ole Miss
December 09, 2017 08:48 PM | Volleyball
OXFORD, Miss. – Traveling for the first time in the 2017 National Volleyball Invitational Championship (NIVC), the West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a three-set match to Ole Miss in an NIVC Semifinal matchup Saturday afternoon at the Gillom Athletics Performance Center in Oxford, Mississippi. The Mountaineers (21-13) fell in set scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-17 to conclude their 2017 season.
The Mountaineers finished the year with a 21-13 overall record. WVU exceed a predicted sixth-place finish in the Big 12 with a 6-10 fifth-place mark in the league, upsetting then-No. 14 Kansas for the first time in program history to cap regular-season play. WVU won 21 games for the first time since a 26-11 campaign in 1991, the only time before 2017 that the Mountaineers made the postseason. With 21 wins this year, third-year coach Reed Sunahara has earned his highest win total as head coach of the Mountaineers.
"I told them before the game they did a great job this year, and I'm proud of them," Sunahara said. "The seniors did a great job. We made it to the postseason for the first time in 26 years, and we made a run. That's all you can ask for."
Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey led the Mountaineers with 13 kills for the fifth straight match, hitting .300 on the day. Senior middle block Mia Swanegan was not far behind Caffrey, hitting a team-best .318 with 11 kills on 22 swings. Swanegan also notched five block assists and three solo blocks, totaling eight blocks in the match.
Senior libero Gianna Gotterba had a season-best 23 digs. Caffrey added nine digs to the team's total of 46, while senior Emma Anderson assisted on 31 of the team's 39 kills.
West Virginia finished the match hitting .157 with 39 kills and nine team blocks. Led by Emily Stroup's 19 kills, Ole Miss (21-14) hit .210 with 43 kills and seven team blocks.
Caffrey and Swanegan combined for five kills in the first-set loss to the Rebels. West Virginia jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, but Ole Miss racked up four in a row to the tie set at 8-8. Both squads exchanged points down the stretch, playing to 14 ties throughout the set. Swanegan put down a late kill to knot the set at 22-22, but the Rebels claimed three of the next four points for the 25-23 advantage and 1-0 match lead over the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers again jumped out to an 8-4 lead in set two, but the Rebels used a pair of service aces to regain the lead at 12-11 midway through the frame. West Virginia used a timeout, but couldn't sustain a solid offense out of the stoppage. The Mountaineers tied the set at 15-15 following back-to-back attacking errors from Ole Miss, but the Rebels found themselves back in the set following consecutive kills from Stroup. The Mountaineers then used a late 3-0 scoring streak to take a 21-20 advantage, but the Rebels capitalized on three WVU miscues for the 23-21 lead. Caffrey cut the Mountaineers deficit to one with a kill, but the Rebels rattled off back-to-back points for the 25-22 victory and the 2-0 lead in the match.
Ole Miss used a pair of scoring runs to take a 9-6 advantage in set three and never looked back. Kills from sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans and Caffrey cut the Mountaineers deficit to four, down 14-10, but the Rebels fired back with another 5-0 scoring run to take a 23-13 advantage. Swanegan notched back-to-back kills late in the set, but a Mountaineer attacking error brought the Rebels to match point at 24-15. Ole Miss then claimed the 25-17 victory off a kill from Bayleigh Scott, as West Virginia fell 3-0.
With the loss, WVU drops to 2-1 all-time against Ole Miss.
Today's contest marked the final career match for five Mountaineer seniors: Gotterba, Anderson, Swanegan, Taylor Cross and Morgan Montgomery.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The Mountaineers finished the year with a 21-13 overall record. WVU exceed a predicted sixth-place finish in the Big 12 with a 6-10 fifth-place mark in the league, upsetting then-No. 14 Kansas for the first time in program history to cap regular-season play. WVU won 21 games for the first time since a 26-11 campaign in 1991, the only time before 2017 that the Mountaineers made the postseason. With 21 wins this year, third-year coach Reed Sunahara has earned his highest win total as head coach of the Mountaineers.
"I told them before the game they did a great job this year, and I'm proud of them," Sunahara said. "The seniors did a great job. We made it to the postseason for the first time in 26 years, and we made a run. That's all you can ask for."
Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey led the Mountaineers with 13 kills for the fifth straight match, hitting .300 on the day. Senior middle block Mia Swanegan was not far behind Caffrey, hitting a team-best .318 with 11 kills on 22 swings. Swanegan also notched five block assists and three solo blocks, totaling eight blocks in the match.
Senior libero Gianna Gotterba had a season-best 23 digs. Caffrey added nine digs to the team's total of 46, while senior Emma Anderson assisted on 31 of the team's 39 kills.
West Virginia finished the match hitting .157 with 39 kills and nine team blocks. Led by Emily Stroup's 19 kills, Ole Miss (21-14) hit .210 with 43 kills and seven team blocks.
Caffrey and Swanegan combined for five kills in the first-set loss to the Rebels. West Virginia jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, but Ole Miss racked up four in a row to the tie set at 8-8. Both squads exchanged points down the stretch, playing to 14 ties throughout the set. Swanegan put down a late kill to knot the set at 22-22, but the Rebels claimed three of the next four points for the 25-23 advantage and 1-0 match lead over the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers again jumped out to an 8-4 lead in set two, but the Rebels used a pair of service aces to regain the lead at 12-11 midway through the frame. West Virginia used a timeout, but couldn't sustain a solid offense out of the stoppage. The Mountaineers tied the set at 15-15 following back-to-back attacking errors from Ole Miss, but the Rebels found themselves back in the set following consecutive kills from Stroup. The Mountaineers then used a late 3-0 scoring streak to take a 21-20 advantage, but the Rebels capitalized on three WVU miscues for the 23-21 lead. Caffrey cut the Mountaineers deficit to one with a kill, but the Rebels rattled off back-to-back points for the 25-22 victory and the 2-0 lead in the match.
Ole Miss used a pair of scoring runs to take a 9-6 advantage in set three and never looked back. Kills from sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans and Caffrey cut the Mountaineers deficit to four, down 14-10, but the Rebels fired back with another 5-0 scoring run to take a 23-13 advantage. Swanegan notched back-to-back kills late in the set, but a Mountaineer attacking error brought the Rebels to match point at 24-15. Ole Miss then claimed the 25-17 victory off a kill from Bayleigh Scott, as West Virginia fell 3-0.
With the loss, WVU drops to 2-1 all-time against Ole Miss.
Today's contest marked the final career match for five Mountaineer seniors: Gotterba, Anderson, Swanegan, Taylor Cross and Morgan Montgomery.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
WVU
OM
Kills
39
43
Errors
22
18
Attempts
108
119
Hitting %
.157
.210
Points
48.0
54.0
Assists
37
35
Aces
0
4
Blocks
9.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
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