Saturday, September 23
Morgantown, W.Va.
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
12-3, 1-1
2
vs
3
Texas
9-2, 1-0
1
2
3
4
5
F
Texas
27
23
21
25
15
3
West Virginia
25
25
25
16
12
2
Photo by: Steven Prunty
WVU Drops a Five-Set Heartbreaker to No. 6 Texas
September 23, 2017 05:05 PM | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite claiming back-to-back sets to take a 2-1 match lead, the West Virginia University volleyball team dropped a five-set match to No. 6 Texas on Saturday afternoon inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The Mountaineers (12-3, 1-1) fell to the Longhorns (9-2, 1-0) in set scores of 25-27, 25-23, 25-21, 16-25 and 12-15.
Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey led the offense with 21 kills, hitting .250 with four service aces and 15 digs. Sophomore hitter Katelyn Evans also entered double digits with 16 kills, while senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan tallied 13 kills and had an attacking average of .409. Sophomore right side Natania Levak rounded out the Mountaineers in double figures, netting 11 kills on the day.
Sophomore Erin Slinde assisted on 55 of West Virginia's 176 kills. Freshman Alexa Hasting also registered five assists on the afternoon and had a team-high 17 digs.
"I thought we played pretty well," coach Reed Sunahara said. "I thought we had momentum going into the fifth set, but it was a heartbreaker. I'm proud of our girls and our players. I think we did a nice job. We just have to build on that and get better."
Today's game marked West Virginia's third ranked opponent of the season, as the Mountaineers previously faced the nation's top two teams in nonconference play earlier this year. Prior to Texas, WVU took on No. 1 Minnesota, who was ranked second at the time of the meeting (Sept. 1), while No. 2 Penn State was ranked sixth on opening weekend (Aug. 26).
"That's why you play those nonconference matches," Sunahara said. "You play them, so that it will help you in conference play. I thought playing Minnesota and Penn State would help us get to this point. Hopefully, we will continue to get better. That's what the preseason is for. We got a little exposed today, so we just have to continue to work harder. We are playing right with the No. 6 team in the country, and they are even better than that, so hopefully we can build on that. We have to move forward and get better."
West Virginia opened the match with back-and-forth action against Texas, but the Longhorns quickly took a 17-12 lead midway through the first set. Following a timeout, WVU took advantage of three attacking errors by Texas to bring the score within one, 17-16. The Mountaineers then tied the match at 18-all with another kill from Evans, while Caffrey used a service ace to tie the set at 24-24. However, Texas used back-to-back kills to claim the first set, 27-25.
Swanegan had eight kills, as the Mountaineers hit .282 to start things off in the second set. WVU took a 7-6 lead early on with a pair of service aces from Caffery and never looked back, as the team used an 8-0 run pushing its lead to six over the Longhorns. Texas then tied the match at 16-all on a service error from WVU, but the Mountaineers regained the lead with back-to-back kills from Swanegan. Swanegan continued to bring the heat, putting forth another kill and bringing WVU to set point. The Longhorns tried to hang in there, racking up two straight points, but the Mountaineers came out on top, 25-23, with an attack error from Texas.
With the match tied at one set apiece, the Mountaineers took that momentum into set three. Caffery came up big midway through the set, bringing WVU within one, 9-8, following another service ace. Texas tied the match at 16-all, but the Mountaineers stormed back with another kill from Caffery and a pair of errors from Texas, leading the Longhorns 20-17. Caffery then put down a nice touch in the back left corner of the court, taking the Mountaineers to set point and eventually claiming the set, 25-21.
Though they couldn't keep the momentum going in set four, falling by a score of 25-16, WVU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Texas battled back, tying the set at 10 apiece on an attack error from the Mountaineers. After battling back-and-forth, WVU surrendered two straight points, bringing the Longhorns to match point. The Mountaineers stayed alive on attack error from Texas, but the Longhorns eventually ran away with it on a service error.
Micaya White led the Longhorns with 16 kills, as the team hit .304 with 14 blocks.
WVU travels to Lubbock, Texas, for its first Big 12 road match of the season, as the team faces Texas Tech on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. ET.
Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey led the offense with 21 kills, hitting .250 with four service aces and 15 digs. Sophomore hitter Katelyn Evans also entered double digits with 16 kills, while senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan tallied 13 kills and had an attacking average of .409. Sophomore right side Natania Levak rounded out the Mountaineers in double figures, netting 11 kills on the day.
Sophomore Erin Slinde assisted on 55 of West Virginia's 176 kills. Freshman Alexa Hasting also registered five assists on the afternoon and had a team-high 17 digs.
"I thought we played pretty well," coach Reed Sunahara said. "I thought we had momentum going into the fifth set, but it was a heartbreaker. I'm proud of our girls and our players. I think we did a nice job. We just have to build on that and get better."
Today's game marked West Virginia's third ranked opponent of the season, as the Mountaineers previously faced the nation's top two teams in nonconference play earlier this year. Prior to Texas, WVU took on No. 1 Minnesota, who was ranked second at the time of the meeting (Sept. 1), while No. 2 Penn State was ranked sixth on opening weekend (Aug. 26).
"That's why you play those nonconference matches," Sunahara said. "You play them, so that it will help you in conference play. I thought playing Minnesota and Penn State would help us get to this point. Hopefully, we will continue to get better. That's what the preseason is for. We got a little exposed today, so we just have to continue to work harder. We are playing right with the No. 6 team in the country, and they are even better than that, so hopefully we can build on that. We have to move forward and get better."
West Virginia opened the match with back-and-forth action against Texas, but the Longhorns quickly took a 17-12 lead midway through the first set. Following a timeout, WVU took advantage of three attacking errors by Texas to bring the score within one, 17-16. The Mountaineers then tied the match at 18-all with another kill from Evans, while Caffrey used a service ace to tie the set at 24-24. However, Texas used back-to-back kills to claim the first set, 27-25.
Swanegan had eight kills, as the Mountaineers hit .282 to start things off in the second set. WVU took a 7-6 lead early on with a pair of service aces from Caffery and never looked back, as the team used an 8-0 run pushing its lead to six over the Longhorns. Texas then tied the match at 16-all on a service error from WVU, but the Mountaineers regained the lead with back-to-back kills from Swanegan. Swanegan continued to bring the heat, putting forth another kill and bringing WVU to set point. The Longhorns tried to hang in there, racking up two straight points, but the Mountaineers came out on top, 25-23, with an attack error from Texas.
With the match tied at one set apiece, the Mountaineers took that momentum into set three. Caffery came up big midway through the set, bringing WVU within one, 9-8, following another service ace. Texas tied the match at 16-all, but the Mountaineers stormed back with another kill from Caffery and a pair of errors from Texas, leading the Longhorns 20-17. Caffery then put down a nice touch in the back left corner of the court, taking the Mountaineers to set point and eventually claiming the set, 25-21.
Though they couldn't keep the momentum going in set four, falling by a score of 25-16, WVU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Texas battled back, tying the set at 10 apiece on an attack error from the Mountaineers. After battling back-and-forth, WVU surrendered two straight points, bringing the Longhorns to match point. The Mountaineers stayed alive on attack error from Texas, but the Longhorns eventually ran away with it on a service error.
Micaya White led the Longhorns with 16 kills, as the team hit .304 with 14 blocks.
WVU travels to Lubbock, Texas, for its first Big 12 road match of the season, as the team faces Texas Tech on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. ET.
Team Stats
TEX
WVU
Kills
66
67
Errors
21
30
Attempts
148
176
Hitting %
.304
.210
Points
84.0
79.0
Assists
63
64
Aces
4
4
Blocks
14.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills
21
Aces
4
Blocks
2
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballRS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
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