Mountaineers, Herd to Meet Tuesday

Tuesday, September 12

Huntington, W.Va.

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

Marshall

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

September 11, 2017 05:05 PM | Volleyball

Live Stats Live Video Match Notes

By: Ashley Bailey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Looking to extend its five-match win streak, the West Virginia University volleyball team travels to in-state rival Marshall on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. nonconference tilt at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.

The Mountaineers enter the matchup at 7-2 overall, while the Thundering Herd brings a 3-8 record. It will be WVU's second match this season against a team from Conference USA, as the Mountaineers topped UTSA, 3-1, at the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this month.

"I think rivalry games are important," coach Reed Sunahara said. "It's something that fans look forward to, and it helps us prepare for our league schedule. Marshall is always a tough team. I don't think their record is indicative of how they play, and we need to be prepared."

Tuesday marks the 50th all-time meeting between the Mountaineers and the Thundering Herd. WVU holds a 29-20 advantage in the series, which started on Oct. 15, 1974, when Marshall claimed a 2-0 win in Huntington. The 2017 season marks the 19th time the two will meet in Huntington, where the Mountaineers hold an 18-10 advantage.

The two teams co-hosted The Capital Classic at the Charleston Civic Center in 2016, with Marshall claiming a 3-2 win over West Virginia to take home the Golden Ball Trophy. The Mountaineers won a five-set thriller in Morgantown in 2015, which was Sunahara's first year at the helm. However, WVU dropped a 3-0 contest the last time the two met at Cam Henderson Center in 2014.

West Virginia has won five straight, most recently compiling a 3-0 record to win the Holiday Inn Invitational at Wright State last weekend. WVU started things off with a 3-0 sweep of Tennessee Tech on Friday afternoon behind 11 kills from sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey. The Mountaineers made it back-to-back sweeps as they downed Harvard, 3-0, with sophomore right side Natania Levak's 11 kills leading the way. Sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans had 18 kills to pace WVU in a 3-1 win at Wright State to cap the tournament. The event marked one of the best offensive showings of the season for WVU, who hit better than .300 in two of three matches.

Sophomore Erin Slinde led the Big 12 with 12.89 assists per set this week and also ranked fourth with 0.56 service aces per set. Senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan was seventh in the league after leading WVU with 1.11 blocks per set, while freshman middle blocker Katie DeMeo ranked in the top 10 in blocks per set (eighth) and hitting percentage (fourth).

The Mountaineers wrap up the majority of nonconference play this week. The team travels to West Point, New York, this weekend for the Black Knight Classic on Friday and Saturday. WVU will face Akron (11 a.m.) and host Army (7 p.m.) on Friday before taking on Providence on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) Following the tournament, WVU will have just one nonleague match remaining as the Mountaineers host Robert Morris on Oct. 31.

For the second straight season, West Virginia continues to show improvement. The Mountaineers were 4-5 through the first nine matches of the season in 2016, and boast a 7-2 mark in 2017. They surpassed their 2015 win total of five matches with Friday's win over Tennessee Tech.