West Virginia Sweeps Tennessee

Saturday, September 2

Minneapolis, Minn.

12:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

3-2

Tennessee

4-1

Team	1	2	3	Final F
West Virginia	25	25	25	3
Tennessee	20	16	22	0

Photo by: Jennifer Shephard

September 02, 2017 03:19 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

By: Ashley Bailey

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – After a tough loss to No. 2 Minnesota on Friday evening, the West Virginia University volleyball team quickly rebounded to roll past Tennessee, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis. The Mountaineers (3-2, 0-0), swept the Volunteers (4-1, 0-0 SEC) in set scores of 25-20, 25-16 25-22 in their second match at the Diet Coke Classic at the University of Minnesota.

Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey recorded a double-double, netting 13 kills and 11 digs in addition to hitting .267. She also led the Mountaineers with four service aces.

Fellow sophomore hitter Katelyn Evans hit .278 with eight kills, while senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan notched six kills. Sophomore right side Natania Levak and sophomore setter Erin Slinde each recorded five, with Slinde hitting .714 and dishing out 27 assists.

Freshman libero Alexa Hasting led the serve receive, registering a team-best 18 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Ava Richards had nine digs, while fellow freshmen defensive specialist Lindsay Proctor added eight.

Swanegan led WVU with seven total blocks, followed by three from Evans and a pair each from Levak and Slinde. Hasting recorded a trio of service aces, with Swanegan and Richards each adding one as well.

West Virginia finished the match hitting .235 with 40 kills and eight team blocks. Tennessee, led by seven kills from Erica Treiber, hit .094 with 30 kills and 6.5 blocks.

"It was a good win for our team," said coach Reed Sunahara. "It was nice to see them come back after a tough loss. We made some good adjustments and played well. Hopefully, we can build on this heading into our next match against UTSA."

Hitting .263 with 15 kills, the Mountaineers claimed the first set for a 1-0 lead. Caffrey hit .400 with four kills in the win, while Evans hit .375 with four. After the Vols took three of the first four points, WVU used a pair of kills and an ace to come within one, down 5-4. Tennessee rattled off three in a row for an 8-4 advantage, forcing WVU into a timeout. The Mountaineers rolled to six straight out of the stoppage, holding a 10-8 advantage over the Volunteers. Levak and Caffrey alternated kills as part of a five-point run that saw the Mountaineers go up 18-12 on a Caffrey ace. Tennessee rallied to come within three at 23-20, but Swanegan paired with Slinde on the block before serving an ace as WVU posted the 25-20 win for a 1-0 lead.

The Volunteers again took an early lead in set two, but much like the first, the Mountaineers prevailed in the end. A kill from Evans and back-to-back UT errors tied things up at 5-5, but the Vols rolled to four straight for a 9-5 advantage. The Mountaineers regrouped during a timeout, using a pair of Caffrey kills to come back for a 10-10 tie. Hasting added a pair of service aces soon after, putting the Mountaineers on top 18-13. They never looked back, scoring six of the last seven points to take the set on back-to-back Caffrey kills. The 25-16 win put WVU ahead 2-0 in the match.

After playing to a 9-9 tie to start the third set, the Mountaineers found themselves in a seven-point hole following a six-point Volunteer scoring run. After a Tennessee attack error ended the run, Swanegan paired with two of her teammates on back-to-back blocks to force a UT timeout. Hasting recorded an ace out of the stoppage, helping WVU get back on track. Richards served an ace to start a four-point run led by Swanegan and senior setter Emma Anderson, who teamed for a block before each throwing down a kill as WVU grabbed a 21-20 lead. The Volunteers tied the set, 21-21, on a block before Swanegan and Evans returned the favor to swing the momentum back to the Mountaineers. Swanegan then found the court to set up match point with a 24-21 WVU lead. Tennessee extended the set, but Caffrey came through with the kill to win the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0, handing the Volunteers their first loss of the season.

West Virginia concludes the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis on Saturday evening with a 5:30 p.m. tilt with UTSA.