WEST POINT, N.Y. – Heading into the weekend on a six-match win streak, the West Virginia University volleyball team travels to West Point, New York, for a trio of matches as part of the Black Knights Invitational, hosted by Army at Gillis Field House on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Mountaineers (8-2, 0-0) will take on Akron (3-6, 0-0 MAC) at 11 a.m. on Friday before playing the host Black Knights (5-5, 0-0 Patriot) at 7 p.m. that evening. The team will conclude the tournament at 2:30 p.m. tilt against Providence (11-0, 0-0 Big East) on Saturday.
 
"Any time you have a streak going, it definitely helps the way you're playing," coach Reed Sunahara said. "Hopefully that carries over to what we're doing this weekend. I like where we're at. We've still got to get better, because they Big 12 is challenging. But the preseason is to build momentum, and I think we're doing that."
 
WVU brings a 12-9 mark into Friday's match with Akron in a series that started in 1983. The two teams last met in 2016, when the Zips came to Morgantown for the WVU Invitational. The Mountaineers claimed a 3-0 win, moving to 41-37 all-time against the Mid-American Conference.
 
It's been seven years since West Virginia and Army last squared off. The two have played just twice since 1991, with the Mountaineers claiming both matches
 
WVU will square off with former BIG EAST foe Providence for the 19th time on Saturday. The series is tied at 9-9, with the West Virginia winning 3-0 in the most recent meeting. The two most recently faced off in 2014 in a neutral-site meeting at Niagara. The series first started in 1983.
 
WVU will wrap up preseason play - as well as most of its nonconference slate - at the Black Knights Invitational this week. Thus far, the Mountaineers have comprised an 8-2 mark through three weeks of play. They have recorded five sweeps: UT-Martin, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Harvard and Marshall. Both of their losses have come against teams ranked inside the AVCA Top-10: No. 2 Penn State (formerly No. 6) and No. 1 Minnesota (formerly No. 2).  WVU has just one non-league contest remaining and will host Robert Morris on Oct. 31.
 
West Virginia enters the weekend riding a six-match win streak, its longest in three seasons under Coach Sunahara. The Mountaineers last loss came on Sept. 2 at then-No. 2 Minnesota. WVU isn't the only team off to a hot start this season that will be in West Point this weekend - Providence has started the season on an 11-match win streak.
 
Most recently, the Mountaineers swept in-state foe Marshall to bring the Golden Ball Trophy back to Morgantown for the second time in two years. It marked WVU's first sweep of the Thundering Herd since 2010, as the Mountaineers claimed their last win in five sets back in 2015. It was also West Virginia's first win in Huntington since 2000.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey leads the team, averaging 3.39 kills per set for a total of 112 on the season. However, fellow hitter Katelyn Evans has led the team in its previous two matches. Evans had 18 kills in the 3-1 win at Wright State and tallied 11 in the sweep of Marshall on Tuesday. Senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan is averaging 1.22 blocks per set to lead the WVU blocking effort and contributes to the offense with 2.97 kills per set. Sophomore setter Erin Slinde ranks in the top-10 of the Big 12 with 10.47 kills per set, while freshman libero Alexa Hasting is averaging 3.18 digs per set.
 
WVU will open Big 12 play on Wednesday when TCU travels to Morgantown for a 6 p.m. match at the WVU Coliseum.