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Mountaineers Celebrate 2016 Season
April 28, 2017 03:32 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University volleyball team capped spring competition and celebrated the 2016 season with friends, family and fans last Saturday at Bartini Prime in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers started the day off by hosting a trio of teams in a tournament at the WVU Coliseum. Duquesne, Youngstown State and Wright State joined WVU in the six-match tournament, which marked the fourth and final tournament of the spring season for the Mountaineers. West Virginia previously traveled to tournaments at Georgetown, Pitt and Youngstown State.
Outside hitter Payton Caffrey led the squad with 116 kills, while right side Natania Levak boasted a team-best .328 hitting percentage. Libero Gianna Gotterba finished as the team leader in serve receive (2.39) and digs (124). Middle blocker Mia Swanegan notched a team-high 24 blocks.
“We worked really hard to get better with every practice,” WVU coach Reed Sunahara said. “We still have some work do to, but I think our spring season was a good starting point for 2017. We’ve made great strides and I look forward to seeing what they can do in the fall.”
Following the tournament, the squad hosted its yearly banquet at Bartini Prime. Coach Sunahara and staff honored letterwinners and seniors and handed out a number of yearly awards.
Setter Erin Slinde was named the team’s Most Improved Player. After splitting time at setter, Slinde took over as the starter later in her freshman season. She averaged 5.94 assists per set and 0.68 blocks per set, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman team.
Caffrey was presented with the team’s Offensive MVP award. A freshman outside hitter, Caffrey ranked near the top of the Big 12 with 4.44 kills per set as well as 2.24 per set. Additionally, she led the team with 66 service aces. Caffrey was a five-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week who was named the AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year. She also earned spots on the Big 12 All-Conference First Team and Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Gotterba was selected as the Defensive MVP. A junior libero, Gotterba led the team with 3.90 digs per set in addition to 16 service aces.
Senior middle blocker Hannah Shreve won the team’s Mountaineer Award. A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Shreve ranked second on the team with 0.94 total blocks. She also excelled academically, graduating in three years with her undergraduate degree in accounting before pursuing a master’s in accounting during her senior season with the Mountaineers.
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