WVU Falls at No. 2 Minnesota

Friday, September 1

Minneapolis, Minn.

8:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

2-2

Minnesota

3-0

Team	1	2	3	Final F
West Virginia	17	18	22	0
Minnesota	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Steven Prunty

September 01, 2017 10:27 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

By: Ashley Bailey

MINNEAPOLIS – Playing a top-10 squad for the second straight match, the West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to No. 2 Minnesota to open the Diet Coke Classic at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis on Friday. The Golden Gophers claimed the match in set scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-22.

Senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan led the Mountaineers (2-2) with 12 kills, hitting .273 in the process. Sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans finished with eight kills and a pair of blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey and sophomore right side Natania Levak finished with five kills each. Levak also hit .308 in the match and added a pair of blocks.

Freshman libero Alexa Hasting had a team-best 12 digs, while sophomore setter Erin Slinde, a Minnesota native, dished out 30 assists. Freshman defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor had the lone WVU service ace. Caffrey and freshman defensive specialist Ava Richards each finished with four digs.

West Virginia finished the match hitting .160 with 37 kills and five blocks. Led by Stephanie Samedy's 15 kills, Minnesota (3-0) hit .323 with 46 kills and six blocks.

"Playing teams like this will only make out team better," coach Reed Sunahara said. "Though we didn't get the end result we wanted, this was a great learning experience. We'll see teams like this in Big 12 play so it's a good opportunity to play matches like this early in the season."

Caffrey and Evans combined for six kills in the first set loss to the Gophers. Minnesota claimed four of the first five points for a 4-1 lead, though a three-point WVU run brought the Mountaineers within two, down 8-6 on a Caffrey kill. Consecutive hitting errors by West Virginia helped the Gophers to a 21-13 lead after a four-point scoring streak. A Minnesota kill brought up set point at 24-15, and a kill by Evans and ace from Proctor extended the set. However, the Golden Gophers came up with the kill to claim the set, 25-17.

The Mountaineers countered a 3-0 start by the Gophers in the second set with a 3-0 run of their own as Evans and Levak each recorded a block, with Levak notching a kill as well to tie the set. Minnesota later used back-to-back WVU attacking errors to score five straight, taking a six-point advantage at 13-7. Levak teamed with DeMeo for the block and found the court once more to pull the Mountaineers within three, trailing 15-12. Though the teams traded points, West Virginia couldn't overtake a Gopher team hitting .324 and dropped the set, 25-18, to trail 2-0 in the match.

West Virginia battled back in the third set, using kills from Caffrey and Levak to tie the frame 3-3. Swanegan found the court twice, but the Gophers jumped to a 16-8 lead on a WVU ball handling error. However, three straight kills from Evans brought the Mountaineers within three, trailing 16-13. Swanegan and Levak teamed for a block before Swanegan threw down a kill to bring the Mountaineers within one, trailing 17-16. Evans posted up for the solo block to tie the set, 17-17, as Minnesota called a timeout. The Gophers scored five straight out of the stoppage and never looked back, claiming the 25-22 win as West Virginia fell 3-0.

The Mountaineers will look to rebound in a pair of matches on Saturday. They'll face Tennessee in a 1 p.m. ET matchup before wrapping the Diet Coke Classic at 5:30 p.m. ET against UTSA.