Saturday, September 16
West Point, N.Y.
2:30 p.m.
West Virginia University
3
vs
1
Providence
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Extends Streak with Win over Providence
September 16, 2017 05:26 PM | Volleyball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Evans was named the MVP of the Black Knights Invitational as she led the West Virginia University volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Providence for the Mountaineers' ninth straight win on Saturday afternoon at Gillis Field House in West Point, New York. WVU moved to 11-2 and took the match in set scores of 25-11, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-12.
WVU went 3-0 on the weekend to win the tournament. Evans hit .402 with 4.08 kills per set and added seven blocks throughout the weekend. Sophomore setter Erin Slinde averaged 10.2 assists per set and served six aces, while freshman libero Alexa Hasting had 3.50 digs per set as the two joined Evans on the all-tournament team.
Evans led the Mountaineers with 14 kills, hitting .375 across four sets. Senior outside hitter Morgan Montgomery had 10 kills and a trio of service aces, while sophomore middle blocker and sophomore right side Natania Levak had seven kills each, with DeMeo hitting .400. Fellow freshman Briana Lynch had five kills, while senior middle Mia Swanegan had three.
DeMeo had a career-high six blocks to lead the Mountaineers' blocking effort. Swanegan and Levak each added three as well. Hasting led the floor defense with 18 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey had 10 and Slinde contributed eight. Freshman defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor had six digs, while fellow rookie Ava Richards had four.
Richards added five service aces to the scoresheet, while Montgomery and Slinde each added a trio as WVU had 14 aces in the match. Slinde dished out 36 assists in the match as well.
West Virginia hit .301 with 47 kills, 55 digs and 11 blocks in the match. Providence hit .090 with 41 kills and a block, as Addison Root led the Friars with 15 kills.
"I think it was a good weekend for us," coach Reed Sunahara said. "We found out what we needed to about our team. We know what we need to work on to be ready to open Big 12 play against TCU on Wednesday."
The Mountaineers blasted through the first set, hitting .500 with 10 kills to PC's five in the 25-11 win. Richards served a trio of aces on a 7-0 run that saw that Mountaineers go up 10-4 on the Friars. Montgomery added a pair of kills to make it 15-7 before DeMeo recorded a kill and a block on back-to-back rallies for a 17-8 WVU lead. Levak added back-to-back kills, and Montgomery served consecutive aces for a 22-10 advantage. A PC attack error brought up set point, and an ace from Cuckovich claimed the set and the 1-0 lead for WVU.
The two teams traded points in the second set, with Providence eventually coming out on top with the 25-23 win. Kills from Montgomery, Levak and DeMeo put the Mountaineers on top 13-9, while Evans later kept WVU in front with a kill at 15-13. PC went on to rattle off three in a row to take an 18-17 lead, though the Mountaineer came back to tie the set at 18-18 and 23-23. Consecutive kills for the Friars handed them the set to tie the match at 1-1.
The WVU offense struggled in the third set, hitting just .103, but the Mountaineers were able to come out on top with the 25-18 win. The Friars took a quick 3-0 lead, but WVU battled back with a block from Swanegan and back-to-back aces from Richards for an 8-7 advantage. Levak had a kill and a block assist on a 5-0 run that provided separation, putting West Virginia on top 18-14 later in the set. The Mountaineers capitalized on several attack errors by the Friars but another ace from Richards put the set away and gave WVU the 2-1 lead in the match.
The Mountaineers put the match away in the fourth, hitting .550 with no hitting errors as they rolled to a 25-12 victory. A 4-0 run started the match as WVU went up 4-1 on a block from Swanegan. Slinde added a trio of aces as West Virginia scored nine in a row to make it an 18-6 advantage. The Friars never recovered, as Evans added two more kills before Lynch brought up set point with a 24-11 lead. PC extended the set with a kill, but Lynch countered with one of her own to win the set and the match, 3-1.
WVU will host TCU at the WVU Coliseum to open Big 12 play on Wednesday. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
WVU went 3-0 on the weekend to win the tournament. Evans hit .402 with 4.08 kills per set and added seven blocks throughout the weekend. Sophomore setter Erin Slinde averaged 10.2 assists per set and served six aces, while freshman libero Alexa Hasting had 3.50 digs per set as the two joined Evans on the all-tournament team.
Evans led the Mountaineers with 14 kills, hitting .375 across four sets. Senior outside hitter Morgan Montgomery had 10 kills and a trio of service aces, while sophomore middle blocker and sophomore right side Natania Levak had seven kills each, with DeMeo hitting .400. Fellow freshman Briana Lynch had five kills, while senior middle Mia Swanegan had three.
DeMeo had a career-high six blocks to lead the Mountaineers' blocking effort. Swanegan and Levak each added three as well. Hasting led the floor defense with 18 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey had 10 and Slinde contributed eight. Freshman defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor had six digs, while fellow rookie Ava Richards had four.
Richards added five service aces to the scoresheet, while Montgomery and Slinde each added a trio as WVU had 14 aces in the match. Slinde dished out 36 assists in the match as well.
West Virginia hit .301 with 47 kills, 55 digs and 11 blocks in the match. Providence hit .090 with 41 kills and a block, as Addison Root led the Friars with 15 kills.
"I think it was a good weekend for us," coach Reed Sunahara said. "We found out what we needed to about our team. We know what we need to work on to be ready to open Big 12 play against TCU on Wednesday."
The Mountaineers blasted through the first set, hitting .500 with 10 kills to PC's five in the 25-11 win. Richards served a trio of aces on a 7-0 run that saw that Mountaineers go up 10-4 on the Friars. Montgomery added a pair of kills to make it 15-7 before DeMeo recorded a kill and a block on back-to-back rallies for a 17-8 WVU lead. Levak added back-to-back kills, and Montgomery served consecutive aces for a 22-10 advantage. A PC attack error brought up set point, and an ace from Cuckovich claimed the set and the 1-0 lead for WVU.
The two teams traded points in the second set, with Providence eventually coming out on top with the 25-23 win. Kills from Montgomery, Levak and DeMeo put the Mountaineers on top 13-9, while Evans later kept WVU in front with a kill at 15-13. PC went on to rattle off three in a row to take an 18-17 lead, though the Mountaineer came back to tie the set at 18-18 and 23-23. Consecutive kills for the Friars handed them the set to tie the match at 1-1.
The WVU offense struggled in the third set, hitting just .103, but the Mountaineers were able to come out on top with the 25-18 win. The Friars took a quick 3-0 lead, but WVU battled back with a block from Swanegan and back-to-back aces from Richards for an 8-7 advantage. Levak had a kill and a block assist on a 5-0 run that provided separation, putting West Virginia on top 18-14 later in the set. The Mountaineers capitalized on several attack errors by the Friars but another ace from Richards put the set away and gave WVU the 2-1 lead in the match.
The Mountaineers put the match away in the fourth, hitting .550 with no hitting errors as they rolled to a 25-12 victory. A 4-0 run started the match as WVU went up 4-1 on a block from Swanegan. Slinde added a trio of aces as West Virginia scored nine in a row to make it an 18-6 advantage. The Friars never recovered, as Evans added two more kills before Lynch brought up set point with a 24-11 lead. PC extended the set with a kill, but Lynch countered with one of her own to win the set and the match, 3-1.
WVU will host TCU at the WVU Coliseum to open Big 12 play on Wednesday. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
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