MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team opened its 2017-18 season victoriously, defeating No. 9 NC State, 4703-4630, today, at The Citadel's Inouye Marksmanship Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
 
The Mountaineers (1-0, 1-0 GARC) swept the Wolfpack (0-1, 0-1 GARC) in both disciplines, winning smallbore, 2331-2284, and air rifle, 2372-2346.
 
"I think the team worked hard today in their matches," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "Everyone was very professional, and they each dealt well with any difficulties they faced. We expected a few challenges today because it's the beginning of the season. They all had good parts to their match and worked hard. I think we all learned something today, and we'll take some positives back to Morgantown."
 
Junior Ginny Thrasher swept the individual wins, shooting 595 air rifle and 587 smallbore.
 
Sophomore Milica Babic and redshirt-freshman David Koenders tied for second in air rifle with 593 marks, and junior Will Anti followed in fourth place with a 592. The mark was one-shot short of matching Anti's career high and one-shot better than his 2016-17 season best.
 
Sophomore Morgan Phillips finished in fifth place with a 591 mark. Freshman Sarah Osborn shot 589 in her career debut and placed sixth.
 
NCSU's Lauren Phillips finished in seventh place with a 588 total.
 
Additional Mountaineer air rifle marks included a 586 for senior Elizabeth Gratz, a 581 for redshirt-freshman Noah Barker and a 579 for sophomore Jack Anderson.
 
WVU's Phillips finished second in smallbore with a 583 total. Gratz shot 581 and placed third, while Koenders tallied 580 for a fourth-place finish. Babic tied the Wolfpack's Phillips for fifth place with a 577.
 
Osborn finished sixth on the team with a 574 smallbore mark. Anti followed with a 573, and Barker and Anderson shot 567 and 554, respectively.
 
Five Mountaineers combined for the team's scores today: Babic, Gratz, Koenders, Phillips and Thrasher.
 
"It's always nice to start the year in a positive manner," Hammond added. "I think our overall score is respectful for this early in the season. We had a lot of good performances, and I think all three of our freshmen had good starts to their collegiate careers. There were a lot of good pieces within their matches."
 
With the win, the Mountaineers improve to 19-0 all-time against the Wolfpack.
 
Home to the 2018 NCAA Rifle Championships, today's match was the first of two hosted this weekend by The Citadel as a preview for the end-of-season championship. Complete results from both competitions will be available at the conclusion of the match.
 
The Mountaineers open their 2017-18 home season at the WVU Rifle Range on Saturday, Sept. 30, against No. 5 Ohio State at 8 a.m.